Racing Through Time
by EmmettMcFly55
Summary: Sequel to 'Marty's Great Experiment', this story has Marty and Emmett go to visit the wonderful world of 2015. However, the trip doesn't exactly go as planned. Finished!
1. Chapter 1

**Racing Through Time**

**Disclaimer: To all who haven't read my other stories, I do not own the Back to the Future trilogy in any way possible. **

_Author's Note: _I am aware the start is similar to the end of the previous story, but that's BTTF tradition for you. And the end is different. **  
**

**1: Chapter One**

Emmett Lathrop Brown smiled, as he began to wake up. One major advantage of being a horse dealer was to be found in the fact that you never had to wake up early, unless you had an appointment. Today, Emmett didn't have one, so he could just lean back and relax. It had been a very hard night tonight after all. He had been out with his best friend, Marty McFly, to watch the first temporal experiment ever.

The sixty-five-year-old grinned. Of course Marty hadn't known that in fact, his friend had known of the teen's invention before he was even born, since 1955, for the older version of Marty had visited him then. It had been hard to keep quiet about everything in all these years of knowing Marty, but he had managed to develop a solid friendship with the teen, something which cheered him up through times of misery. He had also married, to a woman named Jennifer Clayton. They had never had any children, something which Emmett did regret to an extent, but at least they were healthy, and they loved each other.

As he thought of his wife, Emmett suddenly noticed that she wasn't there. The mattress next to him was empty, and the horse dealer could easily see the reason for that. The clock next to their bed, one which Marty had bought for them years ago, reported the time as being well after 10:30. He'd overslept – not surprisingly, considering the circumstances, but it was a clear reason for Jennifer to have left him here.

Emmett then got up, noticing that he had slept in his clothes again that night, and walked into the Brown family living room. Though he couldn't see Jennifer anywhere, a sandwich was on the dresser, including filling. The horse dealer took a bite out of it, and then looked over to the refrigerator, or more accurately, beyond it, to the clear morning sky. Emmett smiled, and after putting on his shoes, he went outside.

It was a cool autumn morning, but the wind wasn't blowing too fast and it was quite pleasant out. From the place he was standing, the sixty-five-year-old could see cars driving across the road, and his horses grazing on the fields around the mansion. Despite the fact that it was relatively close to the centre of Hill Valley, John F. Kennedy Drive never saw that much traffic, a fact which Emmett was glad about. He'd take the quiet and casual surroundings of his house over downtown Hill Valley any day, let alone the centre of a big city like Los Angeles or San Francisco.

"About time that you woke up, Emmett!" a voice then sounded from behind him. The horse dealer didn't need to look around to tell that it was his wife. Jennifer Clayton stood in the doorway of the house and smiled at him. "I've been up for three hours now, and you usually go off bed before me! Where have you been last night?"

"Off with Marty" Emmett replied, seeing no need to lie. "You know how many experiments that kid performs in a week. He wanted my assistance for this one."

"What was it?" Jennifer wanted to know.

Emmett winced. All right, maybe he should've come up with some other excuse. "Marty told me I shouldn't tell you yet" he replied. There was some truth in that – the teen had told him not to speak to anybody about it back in 1955 except for his parents, since they already knew, and the horse dealer had followed that order to the letter. Despite how hard it had been some times, he hadn't ever let anything slip, not even to Marty's younger self or Jennifer.

Jennifer frowned for a moment, and then she smiled. "Ah, it's a secret" she said mischievously. "That's all right, I won't ask any further. I guess I'll find out soon enough anyway. You guys can never keep something hidden for long."

"Well, I wouldn't be too sure on that" Emmett quipped, realizing just how wrong that statement was. After all, Marty had managed to keep his time machine hidden in the old timeline, and the horse dealer was sure that if he hadn't known about it, the teen would have fooled him this time around too. And of course he had managed to keep his knowledge about time travel hidden for almost thirty years now. If his wife knew that, she wouldn't say he was bad at keeping secrets anymore.

Jennifer, though, hadn't heard him. She was looking at the horses, specifically at a pair who were somewhat distanced from the rest. Turning to Emmett, she smirked. "You know, I never thought there could be any romance in horses before I met you."

"I never thought _I _could have any romance before I met you" Emmett pointed out, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "I was forty-six when we met, after all. Before that, I hadn't had much in terms of girlfriends."

Jennifer smiled at him. "Then I suppose we should make up for it now, shouldn't we?" she said, somewhat teasingly.

Emmett smiled back. "We should" he agreed, gazing into her eyes and pulling her closer. He then closed his eyes, and moved over to kiss her.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Jennifer shrieked at the noise that came out of nowhere – Emmett, however, recognizing it for what it was, quickly pushed her out of the way. It was just in time, too, as after the final sonic boom, Marty's truck appeared, racing towards them and coming to a halt only after crashing into a tree, a few feet away from them. As the couple was still gawking at the truck, the door opened and Marty exited, running towards them.

"Emmett!" he called out excitedly. "I've returned, so you can now come… back… with…" He froze in his tracks and blinked. "All right, why is it so light?"

"Well, that's quite normal, considering it's already eleven in the morning" Emmett pointed out. "The sun is nearing the highest point, if I'm not incorrect."

"Eleven in the morning!" Marty exclaimed, horrified. "Great Scott! I messed up the AM/PM switch _again_! That's twice in one week!" He shook his head, beginning to panic. "Well, never mind that right now – we must leave, right away! I can't allow anybody to see us!" He took Emmett's arm and began to pull him along.

"Now wait a minute, Marty" Emmett protested. "Are you suggesting that I should go along with you right now?"

"Why, of course" Marty replied. "That's what we agreed, isn't it? It's been some time, but my memory isn't that bad. "I'm certain that's what we said. I did intend to pick you up at eleven P.M., but I don't see how the time difference should matter. You've got time to sleep now, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but what about Jennifer?" Emmett replied. "We can't just leave her here and go off! We were just in the middle of a conversation!"

"Bring her along then, if that's what you want" Marty muttered, suddenly letting Emmett's arm go and beginning to search through the garbage cans on the driveway. "I have no time for a discussion right now. Fuel, I need fuel, where's fuel…"

As Marty mentioned fuel, Emmett's eyes drifted over to the place where that fuel should go into, the garbage cans at the back. He was stunned to find that they were gone, and that as an apparent replacement, only a small can had been added. As the horse dealer looked closer, he could see that it read 'Mr. Fusion – garbage disposal machine'.

Marty then finished digging through the cans, and carried two Pepsi cans and the core of an apple over to the Mr. Fusion thing, dumping it in them. After having finished that, he turned back to Emmett. "Well, aren't you going to get into the car?" he insisted, clearly annoyed.

"Not if you won't tell us what this is all about!" Jennifer exclaimed, even more confused than Emmett, given that he had at least a clue what Marty was referring to.

"I'll do so soon enough, so if you'll just get into the car, okay?" Marty replied. Emmett then reluctantly stepped inside, followed by Jennifer. Marty closed the door behind them and got inside as well. As he drove the car off the driveway and into the street, Emmett tried to get a look at the time circuits, but he couldn't clearly distinguish anything.

"All right, Marty" Emmett tried once more. "What's going on, huh? Where are we going?"

"You'll see it soon enough, we just need to get out of here" Marty insisted. He then started typing in some information. Emmett tried once more to get a better look at the time circuits, but failed. Then, Marty moved his hands back to the wheel.

"Wait a minute" Emmett muttered, remembering something. "Marty, you'd better back up. We don't have enough roads to get up to 88."

In response, Marty turned to him and gave him a slightly frightening look. "Roads?" he replied, saying the word as if it was an insult. "Where we're going we don't need, (short pause), roads!"

oooooooo

Biff Tannen frowned to himself, as he was driving his new auto detailing truck through John F. Kennedy Drive. As usual, there was no one in the area who wanted his services. It was always a quiet day for the detailing business on Saturday, so it shouldn't have surprised him, but it did make him angry. He had to feed himself and that awful brat of a son he had in Cliff Tannen on Saturdays too! Why couldn't the people understand that and ask them to wax their car more often? The only one who regularly hired him was, of all people, George McFly – and Biff knew that he didn't want to go there this morning to ask if he was needed.

The forty-eight-year-old bully scowled, as he thought of George McFly. He knew that it wasn't very mature of him to think this way about McFly thirty years after the guy had punched him out, but he didn't care. So be it! He didn't _want_ to like George McFly, he had to. And it was annoying. Seeing George hanging around Lorraine, hugging her, kissing her… that should have been his girl. George stole her from him that night. And it was all thanks to that punk, Clint Eastwood.

As Biff was pondering this, he noticed that he had arrived at the mansion of Emmett Brown, and smiled evilly. Yeah, maybe he'd ask Brown whether he wanted him to wax their car. And charge him a high price, just because the guy was too dumb to know what price he should pay. Sure, the guy hung around that freak, Marty McFly, but Marty wasn't there all the time. And if Brown would refuse his services, he could always do some damage to the property while he was there. Have a little fun. Smiling in advance, he stopped the car and exited before stopping suddenly as he noticed the McFly truck parked before his car. Not wanting the guy to notice him and perhaps foil his plans, Biff decided to stand there and wait a little while before McFly would go away.

As he was just wondering how long he was going to let this take, Biff saw something which he couldn't believe, something straight out of a movie. The truck lifted up into the sky, completely unsupported, and the wheels folded in. As Biff's jaw dropped, the car then accelerated through the sky and, after a few moments, it disappeared in a flash of light and a loud sonic boom.

For a moment, Biff just stood there, staring at the trails of fire in the sky where the car had just been. Then, he scowled. "What the hell is going on here" he muttered, darkly. He didn't know what this was all about, but he knew that he would find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has a relation to these movies. **

_Author's Note: Yeah, here I am again to torment you with my stories. I thought it was about time that I uploaded something I wrote over the past month... don't you all agree? I'm currently stranded in the start of the next story, but Racing Through Time is written and only needs to be uploaded yet, so you'll be sure to recieve another chapter some time from now.  
_

**2: Chapter Two**

Emmett couldn't hold back a gasp as the light around the truck faded. Confused, he looked around, wondering where he was. Part of the answer to that question came nearly right away, as something red and oddly shaped suddenly raced right towards them, popping up at the front window looking like it was only a foot or so away. Marty twisted the steering wheel to the right to avoid it, and narrowly managed that. "Phew" the teen muttered, before looking out of the window, balling his left hand into a fist and shouting: "Where did you get your flying lessons, at the local madhouse?"

The older man leaned back into his seat. "Marty?" he asked. "What… what on _earth _was that?"

"Oh, nothing important" Marty replied, having returned to his regular calm self. "Some drunk driver. One of these days, they ought to take their hover conversions and smash them into pieces. You wonder what kind of IQ they have, considering it's not all that complicated to fly."

Emmett stared at his friend for a moment, then looked out of the window, causing him to gasp. There were flying cars all around them. It was like they were on a road in the sky, with lane markers and everything. There were signs telling the speed and the distances to nearby locations. And everything, every _single thing,_ was flying.

"A drunk driver?" Jennifer repeated, paying more attention to Marty's story. "In the _sky_? Where are we!"

"Considering spatial displacement is currently impossible, we are not too far away from the place we just left" Marty responded. "We're currently somewhere between eight hundred and nine hundred yards away from the city centre of Hill Valley, California, in the United States of America."

"All right Marty, then _when_ are we?" Emmett pressed on. "This doesn't look like home, if cars are flying."

"Well," Marty replied, "Considering that I told you last night where I was going and that I also told you that we were going to the times that haven't arrived yet from the world's current perspective, or actually not current since they are now current but from the perspective of the world we just left…"

"Marty?" Emmett interrupted, knowing his friend could go on for ages if he wanted to.

"Oh, yes, sorry. Anyway, considering the information I gave you and the fact that I intended to take you along on my next journey, you should know where we are, roughly."

Emmett pondered that thought. He remembered what Marty had told him – the teen wanted to go exactly as far forward as he'd previously gone back. He had gone back to 1955 from 1985, that was thirty years. 1985 and adding thirty…

"Two thousand fifteen" he whispered, stunned. "We're in the year 2015!"

"Saturday, October 31st, 2015, at 3:30 P.M., to be exact" Marty replied. "But yes, the year is correct."

"Emmett, what are you talking about?" Jennifer wanted to know. "How could we be in the year 2015? That's thirty years from now! It's impossible!"

Marty and Emmett exchanged glances. "Uh, Jennifer," Marty began, "I am not aware of any correct manner being in existence to inform you of the current situations, but…"

"…you're in a time machine" Emmett finished.

Jennifer stared at him, for a moment disbelieving, but then she looked outside and realization that this had to be the truth began to appear. "And this is the year two thousand fifteen?" she asked, stunned.

"October thirty-first, two thousand fifteen" Marty prompted.

Jennifer gasped, and was silent for a moment, unable to say anything. Then, she finally replied: "Marty, I knew you were smart, but… really? Did you build a time machine?"

"It's a temporal field warping and displacement machine" Marty corrected. "But yes, I built it and… Great Scott! Seatbelts on, everyone!"

"Now what is that good for all of a sudden?" Emmett asked Marty, who was already putting on his own belt.

"I'll tell you in a moment" Marty responded, sharp. "Just do it, okay?"

Emmett nodded, confused, and put his seatbelt on. Jennifer did the same. They then passed a big sign, which sent a bend of red light towards them as they came past it. The sixty-five-year-old frowned. "All right, what was that light about?"

"That's the automatic seatbelt-scan" Marty told him. "They have one every mile on the skyway. With the invention of flying cars, having accidents has become much easier, so this is a necessary precaution to ensure that everyone wears their belt."

Emmett nodded. "You're the Doc, Marty."

"Not yet – here's our exit!" Marty called out, and he took the truck to the right, flying down a side lane. As Emmett peeked out of the window, he could see that they passed another flying sign, which read: 'Welcome to Hill Valley, California. Population 200.000. Goldie Wilson Jr. Mayor. A nice place to live. Please Fly Carefully. Seat Belts Save Lives.' Emmett smiled at the last one, remembering what Marty had just said. They then descended further and entered a familiar looking alleyway.

As the truck began it's final few feet of descent to the ground, Emmett noticed a strange buzzing sound. He looked outside and saw that the wheels went back into their normal position, or at least, into what was a normal position as far as a 1985 person was concerned. The truck then landed with a bump.

"Well, we've arrived" Marty said, turning to the others. "I'm sorry for acting so rushed earlier, but I didn't want anybody to see the temporal field warping and displacement machine and potentially recognize it for what it is. I trust you two with the knowledge, but outside that, I am unaware of whether people should be trusted. I considered revealing the machine to mankind earlier, but I don't think I'm going to do that."

"Yeah, it doesn't sound very smart" Jennifer said. "It is pretty cool that you built a time machine, Marty, and it would be kind of funny to see everyone gawk at it, but others could use it for the wrong purposes. Something might go wrong with that."

"Exactly" Marty said, relieved that his friends understood his motives. "I have no intentions to let any more people know about the machine than those that are currently aware of the vehicle. It is just too dangerous. Who knows what kind of disaster it could cause? Imagine if the machine were to fall into the hands of someone who intends to disrupt history? Even if your intentions are good, chances are that disaster strikes anyway. I've been too close to that in 1955 when I almost erased myself from existence."

"Excuse me, what did you do?" Jennifer replied, astonished. "You went to 1955? When? Why!"

Marty and Emmett looked at each other. "Well, to be honest, that was the first trip I took" Marty replied. "It happened last night. It's a long story which we can explain to you later, but for now it should suffice that I ended up going back in time instead of forwards due to some accident, and that I interfered with my parents' courtship."

"He was Clint Eastwood" Emmett provided. "This probably sounds weird to you, considering everything I've told about him even before Marty was born…"

"It definitely does" Jennifer muttered. "Granted, it would have been worse if I had been in Hill Valley at the time you visited, Marty… but are you telling me that you were the one to date your mother that night? That's what I heard from Emmett, at least…"

"It's true" Marty replied. "As you probably realize, it was not intentional, but it was a necessary action that had to be done in order to bring my parents together. Emmett knew about my true origins all the time – I had gone to him for a place to stay – but I told him not to tell anybody about it. Again, this was done just in case the time machine would fall in the wrong hands."

"But you could've let him tell me, at least" Jennifer said, clearly a bit hurt. "I wouldn't misuse that knowledge."

"I know, but at the time, I could hardly tell Emmett" Marty reminded her. "In 1955, he was still unaware of your existence, and I couldn't tell him that he could tell his wife, since that would have included telling him that he would have a wife, and thus endanger history."

Jennifer nodded, even though she didn't entirely appear to get it. "So Emmett had to live with that secret for thirty years?" she deduced, surprised. "That sounds incredibly hard to me. And to think that he had to wait all that time for you…"

"Actually, I've just gone through a month of not seeing him either" Marty replied. "So I know the feeling a bit – and it's not nice, I agree."

"A month?" Emmett said, stunned. "You just left last night!"

"You're not thinking fourth-dimensionally, Emmett" Marty gently reminded him. "Yes, I did leave last night, or actually not last night but the night before the morning we departed from 1985, but I have spent a long time in the future. That's what I told you on the parking lot, remember? About how I might be away for a long time and come back right after I left?"

"Oh yeah" Emmett replied, indeed recalling something like that.

"I spent three weeks in the year 2015 until yesterday evening in this time period" Marty continued. "Then, I left on an expedition of roughly nine days through the entire twenty-first and early twenty-second century, spending a day or two in each time period. It was very exhausting, I can tell you that."

"I suppose so" Jennifer muttered. "What years did you visit?"

Marty leaned back, recalling them. "First, I went to 2045, where I spent two days. Then, I went ahead to 2115 where I spent the same time. Then, I went back to 2070 for a day, to 2130, to 2050, to 2000, to 2115 again, then a short trip to 2030 before finally returning to 1985 to pick you up. Or, in fact, to pick up Emmett, since I wasn't aware that you would come along at that point in time."

"I see" Emmett said. "So, what did you bring us here for? I doubt that you were going to let us sit in the car all the time. Or let me sit in the car all the time, if you intended to bring only me."

"I was going to take you on a trip through the Square, which I have no reason to cancel now" Marty responded. "So, as you correctly pointed out, we should be leaving. First, though, I've got something for you, Emmett."

"What?" Emmett asked, as Marty exited.

"Take a look for yourself" Marty replied. Emmett nodded, and exited the car, taking a breath of the surprisingly nice air of 2015. He looked over to Marty, who had taken a bag out of the truck's trunk. "Future clothes" the teen informed him. "Your pants don't stand out too much, especially for an older person like you are, but you should put on the vest and the shoes to blend in the crowd."

"Since when have _you_ been concerned with blending into the crowd?" Emmett replied, smirking.

"All for the good of the space-time continuum" Marty replied, smirking back. "Fitting in is one of the primary measures that have to be taken in order to be inconspicuous. We can't risk anybody noticing that we're a time traveler. And in the past, there is the additional problem of altering history to consider. What if someone took a moment to gawk at us, and thus arrived home later than he did in the original timeline, and as a result, he arrived late enough to see the beginning of a house fire, instead of not noticing it and dying in the fire as in the original timeline?"

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Jennifer said. "We'd have saved a life."

"Jennifer…" Emmett whispered, painfully, but it was already too late. Marty turned his gaze towards her. "Altering history is _never_ good, no matter what you do. Certainly, good can result from it, and the changes I made in 1955 don't appear to have destroyed the universe, but anything can happen if you travel through time, and even if things appear good at first, they can be disastrous. But, if you insist, I can present you with an alternate scenario: What if the man arrived early enough in the original timeline to stop the fire, and he arrived later in the new timeline, thus causing the fire to have already spread and kill his wife and children?"

"You're installing a lot of confidence in this man here" Emmett quipped.

"It's a purely hypothetical situation" Marty replied. "Which doesn't take away the fact that it could happen when time travelling, and that we should take care at all time, even in the future."

"Yeah, right" Jennifer replied. "But on another note, how about _my_ clothes?"

"I don't have anything for you, sorry" Marty replied. "If you really stick out, we can buy something later, but I don't think you do. I have seen enough of the fashions of this decade to be sure that you blend in fine with these clothes. Everyone seems to be obsessed with the 1980s at the moment."

"Really?" Emmett asked, having pulled on the vest and staring at it, confused about why it was so big and why this beep sound was coming from it.

"Yeah, really" Marty replied, as he pushed a button on Emmett's vest which caused the vest to stop beeping and shrink to Emmett's size, with a cheerful: "Size adjusting… fit." "I don't know why, but everything is dedicated to the 1980s. Advertisement of movies from our time period at the cinema, clothes from the time at the front in clothing shops, there's even a café in the Square which is called the Café 80s."

"No kidding" Jennifer said.

"I'm not kidding" Marty responded. "It's not done very well, though. Either that is because some events have yet to come from our perspective, but otherwise, the people in it didn't study the history books. It looks too futuristic to be truly representing the decade which we are from."

"Well, I guess we'll soon be able to judge that for ourselves" Jennifer replied. "We're going to the Square, aren't we? If the Café is there…"

"It's on the same place as Lou's system of physical conditioning designed to enhance circulatory and respiratory efficiency that involves several forms of intense physical exercise studio is in our time" Marty informed her.

"As what is?" Jennifer responded, unable to figure out most of the terms that Marty had just used.

"Lou's Aerobics Studio, I believe they call it" Marty said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter, we'll find out through the natural course of time." He looked at Emmett. "Have you put the shoes on?"

"Yeah, I have" Emmett replied, standing up and inspecting himself at all angles. "You should've told me right away that they laced out of themselves, though. It scared me a bit. So did the vest shrinking, in fact."

Jennifer sent a flirtatious smile towards him. "I think you look quite cute in that outfit" she said, trying to cheer him up. "You should wear it at home too."

"That's not advisable, unless you want to draw unnecessary attention and suspicion towards you" Marty pointed out.

"And I wouldn't like it anyway" Emmett muttered, pulling at the vest and staring at it suspiciously as if it was going to do something again. "It's just freaky."

"You can stand wearing it now, can't you?" Marty replied. "I ensure you that nothing strange is going to happen with you as long as you stay out of any unordinary situations."

"All right, I suppose I can manage" Emmett replied. "Are we going now, then?"

"We should" Marty agreed. "Is everybody ready?"

A nod from Jennifer and one from Emmett told him enough. Marty smiled, as they walked off into the Courthouse Square, ready to face the world of the future.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: _All right, this took longer than I expected. That's why I was deliberately vague in my initial notes. Anyway, there's no real action in this chapter. The story doesn't really start to get closer to the original BTTF storyline until a few more chapters from now, but nice and quiet is fine too, isn't it?

**Disclaimer: I do not own a certain trilogy of movies. I forgot the name. It started with a B, I believe... I can't recall anything beyond that. Well, never mind. I just don't own it. **

**3: Chapter Three**

As Jennifer walked into the Square, her first instinct was to gawk at everything. With the long conversation they had shared in the alley, the initial amazement at being in the future had began to fade, but this brought it back in full force. The world had obviously changed a lot by 2015, and Hill Valley's old Courthouse Square had changed along with it. The Courthouse itself had a pond before it instead of a parking lot and was all cleaned up – the only thing that seemed to have been missed was the clock, which still read 10:04 P.M. As she looked at the cinema, she saw that the place was now the Holomax Theatre, which was showing Jaws 19. A shop called 'Blast From the Past' was also around, which apparently sold antiques, but a closer look told Jennifer that they were mostly stuff that was around and in frequent use in the 1980s. On the site of the Lou's Aerobics Studio from 1985 was indeed now a café called the 'Café 80s', and Jennifer could see a little of what Marty meant when he was talking about the place not being done very well. The whole café seemed to give off a futuristic feeling to her, and was nowhere near being nostalgic. As she completed her look around the Square, she then noticed a billboard thing on one of the buildings, which then started playing. A young man who looked a lot like Goldie Wilson Jr. appeared on screen.

"Hi friends," he said, cheerfully, "I'm Goldie Wilson the Third, of Wilson Hover conversions! You know, when my grandpa was mayor of Hill Valley, he had to worry about traffic problems. But now, you don't have to worry about traffic! I'll hover-convert your old road car into a skyway flyer. For only 39,999.95. So come and see me, Goldie Wilson the Third, at one of our twenty-nine locations. And remember: keep them flying."

As Jennifer was still processing all this, she heard a familiar tune start behind her. As she looked around, she could see a shark coming out of the Holomax, opening his jaws and ready to eat her! Both she and Emmett screamed, but Marty remained relaxed. "Just calm down" he said. "It's nothing to worry about."

Jennifer felt the urge to hit him for not thinking a shark was anything to worry about, and would have probably done so if not for the fact that she was too frightened to do anything but stand there and duck, holding her hands over her head for cover. However, as the shark was just about to eat them, it suddenly disappeared.

"What the hell was that!" Emmett called out. He rarely swore, but this was an occasion in which he could hardly be blamed for it.

"It's a hologram" Marty calmly replied. "If you look closer, you'll notice it still looks fake. And in the next occasion you encounter something you don't know, do not scream like that – it will only attract attention, which is a thing we do not need at all."

"We thought we were about to get eaten by a shark" Emmett said, angrily. "I think we had the right to scream."

"You probably did" Marty admitted. "Yet, it was an inconvenience that you screamed, as people might pay more attention to us now. But there's no way back now."

"Well, you have a time machine…" Emmett joked. "I see what you mean, though. But what did you mean by saying that we could encounter something like it again… is all of the future this strange? Including what you saw of our future selves?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Jennifer called out, excited. Now she was calming down from the shark attack, her mind was going back to the previous subject – the wonders of the future. "I can't believe I didn't ask that before! What are we like here, Marty? Did you meet us? Are we going to meet ourselves?"

"That's impossible" Emmett replied. "Marty told me last night… correction, the night before we left 1985… that he would not be able to meet his future self since he would leave 1985 and only return in 2015. It would be like he had just left and never come back. So I suppose that now, all of us have never been seen again since 1985."

"Well, actually," Marty replied, suddenly blushing, "that was the theory I firmly believed in, but for some reason, it wasn't true. When I arrived in the future, I did notice the presence of a future self. I didn't meet him, nor did I find out why he was there, and he was gone the next day, but he was there all right."

"So we can meet our future selves?" Jennifer said, getting more excited about the prospect.

"That is absolutely out of the question" Marty said, firmly. "Yes, it's a possibility, but it isn't one we should pursue. After all, meeting one's future selves can have drastic repercussions on the mental state of that person. The shock could be so big that they faint. It could even cause a time paradox."

"What's a time paradox?" Jennifer asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"That is a very good question" Marty replied.

"But one you could better answer inside the café" Emmett warned. "You just said that we should be careful around people watching us and there are a lot of people doing that right now."

"You're absolutely right, Emmett" Marty agreed. "Let's go inside."

The Café 80s was a large café, and people were all over the place. As Jennifer looked straight forwards, she could see a lot of video screens with what appeared to be '80s shows on them. There were some strange things buzzing around, and it definitely seemed futuristic. As she was about to ask Marty what it was, one of the strange things suddenly appeared in front of them, having the face of Ronald Reagan on it. "Welcome to the café 80s, where it's always morning in America, even in the aftern-n-noon" it announced. "Our special today is a traditional meal consisting of meatloaf…"

"We don't want anything" Marty cut in. "We just want some drinks please."

The waiter stopped. "What do you want?"

"Give us one bottle of Pepsi and two bottles of apple juice" Marty replied. The waiter complied, popping out each one of them. Marty then fed the waiter a bill, and as Jennifer leaned closer, she could see it was a hundred dollar bill. But it wasn't one like the one she knew in 1985 – this bill had an unfamiliar face on it and was designed all colorful. The future was certainly a weird place.

"Cash price is 119.99, including surcharge" the machine reminded the teen. Marty nodded and added an extra twenty dollar bill, which was taken inside as well. The video waiter then beeped. "Have a nice day, sir" it said, before going off to 'assist' some other customers.

"We can sit there" Marty said, pointing at a table near the window. Jennifer and Emmett nodded, and followed the teen to their seats. As they sat down, Jennifer released her questions. "Why did you pay that waiter so much money for just three drinks?" she asked, confused.

"Inflation" Marty replied. "You won't believe just how bad it has gotten. "It's one of the few negative things about this future world. Other than this, it appears to be pretty much all right."

"What did you all see?" Emmett asked. "That we haven't seen for ourselves already, that is?"

"Well, I went to visit the place where books are stored and lend freely after paying a certain annual price" Marty said. "I also went to a car shop like the one that billboard talking about to have the temporal field warping and displacement vehicle hover converted. I knew it could be convenient, especially considering the possibility that the machine might materialize inside a building or something similar one day if we're not fortunate."

"I thought you said those sonic booms pushed away anything in the truck's path" Emmett remarked, confused.

"That is indeed their purpose, but they will not work that way all the time" Marty responded. "You see, while the sonic booms can push away minor objects like rocks and tree branches and even people, they can't displace entire buildings or monuments. And you have no way of knowing in advance what is going to occur on a certain site in the times that have yet to come from your original perspective, and there is no way too find specific information about the situation of a certain road or city in the times that have already passed either. How larger your travelling distance is, the larger the risk gets. I was lucky not to encounter any of this on my original journey to 1955 and my succeeding journey to 2015, but I won't let myself depend on luck. This way, the chance of accidents is kept to a minimum. Having flying circuits will also help when I go far into the past, since a lot of ground was lower at the time and thus I could have the risk of falling in an ordinary, non-converted machine. When flying, that risk is minimal to nothing."

"I see" Emmett said. "So, are you going to tell us what exactly happened while you were here? I have to admit that I'm kind of curious. And we have nothing to do here anyway besides taking a sip of our drinks."

"That is a very good point" Marty responded. "If you want me to tell you about my experiences, I can indeed do so. Of course, we shall have to keep our voices down, considering no one here does nor should know about the existence of temporal travelling, but it is a possibility to tell you, yes." He took a sip of his Pepsi. "But before I start, though – do any of you want something to eat along with your drinks? I know it was breakfast time where you originated from in 1985, and though I'm not sure when _I_ last ate, I'm sure it's been long enough in order to warrant eating something as large as a meal."

"Yeah, I'd like that" Emmett agreed. "What kind of food do they have here?"

"I'm not sure" Marty confessed. "Waiter!"

One of the video waiters flew over to them, and Jennifer had to admit that their presence kept freaking her out, like a lot of other things in this future. "What?" the waiter asked.

"What's on the menu today?" Marty responded. "We'd like to order something."

"Our special menu today is a traditional meal consisting of meatloaf, beans and chips, along with a sauce of your picking" the waiter replied. "It is 274.95 dollars by thumb-payment and 299.95 dollars in cash for each person."

"They call that meal traditional?" Emmett whispered to Jennifer, too soft to be overheard by the waiter. "I suppose that the future has entirely forgotten about the habits of the past. I mean, a meal like that? Has the world really changed that much?"

"I know!" Jennifer whispered back. "It's only thirty years in the future! What happened!"

Marty, however, seemed by no means disturbed by the strange meal – of course, he was rarely disturbed at all – and nodded, taking it in stride. "That'll be all right, I presume" he replied. "Here's your 900 dollars. Is it including the surcharge again?"

"Correct" the waiter replied. "Your meals will be ready in about two minutes, sir, sir, madam."

"Two minutes!" Jennifer called out before she could stop herself.

"The hydrator is broken, so we have to work with the ordinary nanowave again, causing the preparation to take a bit longer" the waiter said. "The café apologies for the inconvenience, ma'am."

"It's all right" Marty ensured him. The waiter flew off, and the teenager turned back to his friends. "I suppose you want to know what a nanowave is and why it can prepare our meals so fast, right?" he asked. Jennifer nodded. "I am not entirely aware myself, but from what I investigated, I concluded that it was a faster version of the microwave that exists in the time period we originate from. From what I have heard, it sounds like a fascinating object. I'm not entirely sure what the hydrators do, but I am planning to do research on that sooner or later."

"I thought you were set on not discovering anything about the future" Emmett remarked, smirking.

"All in the interest of science" Marty replied, though he was clearly blushing.

"Yeah, right" Emmett muttered. "How did your journey go, anyway? You were going to tell us…"

"Exactly" Marty said. "As you know, Emmett, I departed from the mall after the experiment at roughly two hours past midnight. I drove home and met my parents, as you suggested. They had changed a lot from their original selves, but it was a positive change so I decided not to worry about it. I told them the story of my adventures, and after they had gone to bed, I departed for 2015. This was some time after three a.m. I arrived in 2015 on October 9th as intended, early in the morning at five-thirty. One of the first things I saw was the flying cars in the sky. As you can probably understand, I gawked at them, unsure what to do with this information but knowing that it had the potential to be of good use, as I previously explained. After that, I drove into town, and had my breakfast at the café – I believe I sat at the exact table I'm sitting now, only that time, I was sitting on the chair you now occupy, Jennifer."

"Apologies" Jennifer said, smiling.

Marty smiled back. "Anyway, after breakfast, I went out for a look around, making sure that the truck was on a safe place. I went to the various shops first, to take a look at everything, which amused me a lot and kept me occupied for the first day. That night, I rented a bedroom at a local hotel – you know, that old building site on Hill Avenue of which everyone says that it'll never be finished?" Emmett and Jennifer nodded. "Well, it is finished now, and a hotel is on the site. It's a good hotel, with the only negative thing being that as everything here, it's incredibly expensive."

The waiter took that moment to arrive, serving their two meals. "Have a nice day sir, sir, ma'am" he greeted, before departing again. Jennifer looked after him for a while, then concentrated on Marty's story.

"How were you able to pay for the hotel?" Emmett asked. "And for anything you bought that first day, for that matter? You have a lot of future money now, but I'm sure you didn't have that on you when you departed 1985."

"I didn't" Marty confirmed. "I paid with my thumb – apparently, the scientific world of 2015 has developed thumb-identity recognition to the extent that it is used for everyday things. That's another thing I must remind you – do not touch anything that you might think of as odd, or even better, don't touch anything at all. You have no idea of the technology that is involved in this."

"Did you look us up?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"I did that on the second day" Marty replied. "After the initial fascination with the technology, I woke up the second day – that would be Saturday, October 10th – with the desire to find out what had happened to you two. I had already heard somebody talking about myself the day before, something which had shocked me tremendously as I thought that I wouldn't exist, so I had already looked up my name in the library – just a confirmation that it was really me who was there, not someone else who happened to share a name – but I hadn't paid too much attention. This time, I did, and I was surprised to find that I was gone. It must have been a natural result of the ripple effect catching up. Apparently, time travel does effect this phenomenon, as I was restored to the archives when I travelled to 2045 and 2115."

"What about us?" Emmett insisted.

"I won't tell you too much, but I did find some information about you" Marty responded. "You two are still together, happy for as far as I could see, and you're living in the same Brown mansion. You're both still alive, despite Emmett's claims to the contrary."

"Did you speak to him?" Jennifer said, confused about the idea of the future version of her husband insisting that he was dead.

"He's actually referring to me" Emmett explained. "When talking to Marty, we discussed what he would find when seeing us in the future, and I thought that I'd be dead at this age. Guess I was wrong."

"Absolutely wrong" Marty said, smirking. "Apparently, a wonderful sort of technology has developed, rejuvenation technology, which can make one younger all but in name. You're 95, Emmett, but I saw a picture of you in one of the newspapers – nothing major, something about your horses winning some contest, nothing to worry about – which was from six years ago. You actually resembled the you I met in 1955 more than the you that is sitting on the chair opposite me."

"You're joking" Emmett said, dumbfounded. "Six years ago? That's twenty-four years into the future… I would be eighty-nine!"

"But you're still alive and well" Marty said. "I don't know how it's possible either, but it is." He shrugged. "And that's pretty much all I found out. I didn't want to look up much more, and I didn't want to confront you with my disappearance, considering that it had been thirty years."

"Yeah, smart move" Jennifer complimented. "Don't think I would have liked that too much either."

"Exactly" Emmett said. "So, what's next on the menu? Uh, not literally."

"Well, first we have to finish our meals" Marty said, taking a spoon out of his. "And then…

"…how about a nice shopping trip through Courthouse Mall?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: _New chapter. No real interesting things yet, but there are hints for them. Mostly a setting up chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own BTTF and all that is involved with it. **

**4: Chapter Four**

"I can't believe this! We've been here for over an hour now, and all we've done is eating!"

The boys chuckled. "That's not true, Jennifer" Emmett pointed out. "We've been to that computer shop Marty was talking about, and we've gone to the electronics store on the other side. And how about that pet shop we visited?"

"That isn't what I meant" Jennifer said, pouting. They had just exited an ice cream store, and were each eating their ice cream, which was a real good reminder of home because ice cream would mostly taste the same wherever you were. "You know very well what that is" she continued. "I meant that we didn't visit any of the shops that I like – you know, clothes shops, other fun things. We've only seen technology and food, nothing more. Isn't there anything else here that we can go to?"

"I suppose that we could visit a store like the one you are mentioning" Marty said. "I'm not sure whether that would be a smart option, though. We can't wear any clothes we could possibly buy here in our home time. Certainly, it is convenient to have some spare clothing available when visiting time periods, but I don't think it's necessary. Not to mention the time it takes."

"You had the time to visit that electronics store and gawk for half an hour at everything there" Jennifer pointed out. She sighed, determined to break through the stubbornness that was so characteristic of her husband's best friend. "Really, Marty. It shouldn't take all too long. I just want to look at some clothes there. You just said that it could be convenient."

"I did, but I also said that I didn't think of it as a necessity" Marty pointed out. "Which it really is not indeed. I don't think that we should do much travelling to the future after this – I admit that I have spent too much time here already. We could raise suspicion, receive too much knowledge, and potentially alter history so that the circumstances that allowed us to arrive and pursue our goals on this day do not occur, which has the potential for a time paradox. We're endangering ourselves and history as it is."

"Marty, don't be such a square" Jennifer said. "You want to take precautions for everything, right? And buying clothes belongs to that. The more clothes we get, the better prepared we are."

Marty had to think about that for a moment. A few moments, actually. Then, his stubborn looks changed into a frown. "Are you certain that it will not take you too long to find the things you want and have a look around?"

"No more than twenty minutes" Jennifer promised, hopeful that she would be getting her way after all.

"Make that a quarter and it's all right with me" Marty said, extending his hand.

Jennifer hesitated briefly, then nodded and accepted Marty's hand. "All right, a quarter it is" she said. "But then the quarter should only start when we're entering the store. Because right now, I need to go to the bathroom first."

Emmett sighed. "Couldn't you realize that before?" he asked, a bit annoyed.

"No" Jennifer simply said. "Is there a toilet around here, Marty?"

"Look behind you" the teen scientist simply replied. The fifty-two-year-old turned around and did indeed see the appropriate facilities there. She nodded. "All right, I'll be back here in two minutes or something like that" she said, finishing her ice cream and throwing the plastic bowl into a garbage can. "See you." With that, she departed, opening the door marked 'Toilets' and walking through the doorway.

The doorway allowed her to enter a very small room, with two doors on both the left and the right side of the room. Jennifer chose the one on the left, which was marked 'Females', and walked inside. The toilets in the year 2015 did not look all too different from the ones in 1985, at least not in the way of function. However, there was a lot more color around and when she was about to go through one of the doors, she noticed that the toilet in here was painted in rainbow-like colors. A bit embarrassed for no clear reason, she nevertheless exited and, after coming across a bright gold/pink toilet, found a normal white and dull toilet.

She quickly did what she had to do and washed her hands. As she opened the door to exit the female toilet facilities, though, she felt the door hit someone's back. As she turned around, she could see that it was an old man with a cane, who was almost falling. "Oh dear!" she called out, quickly taking the man's arm and helping him steady. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't intend…"

Halfway into the sentence, she froze on the spot as the man's eyes locked on hers and she recognized him. It was Biff Tannen – thirty years older! The old car waxing businessman had now grey hair, a lot of wrinkles, and the aforementioned cane. Something which Jennifer noticed in particular, though, was the dark look he shot towards her.

"Jennifer Brown!" he called out, hobbling away from her (for as far as that was possible in such a small room) as if she was a scary disease. "I should've known it was one of you Browns or McFlys! You guys cause nothing but trouble anyway! Why did you marry that idiot Brown anyway, he's nothing but a stupid nutcase!"

Jennifer was taken aback. She had heard such language from a Tannen before, but that was mostly from Cliff. Though she knew and believed the stories Emmett had told her about the youth crimes of Biff Tannen, about his vandalism against Emmett's property and bullying of George McFly, and how he almost raped Marty's mother on the night of the dance – the one she now knew Marty had seen with his own eyes and had actually played an active role in – she had never faced any of Biff's bad character like this. While Biff was nasty to Emmett, or so her husband told her, he was always polite, if grumpy, to her. She had long since figured that he probably didn't want to alienate a potential customer. His future self, though, had none of these worries, and showed it to the fullest.

"My husband is not a nutcase" she finally replied, having found her breath back. "He isn't stupid either. He's a respectable man in a respectable profession." She wanted to add: "And that's more than I can say for you", but decided against it. If anyone was going to stay polite here, it was going to have to be her. She really didn't want to sink to Biff Tannen's level.

Biff growled. "He's just insane" he insisted. "That's why he always hangs out with that nutcase Marty McFly. The guy's weirder than his old man, that science fiction geek. McFly junior is just an idiot, spending all day locked up in the lab." He narrowed his eyes and stared at her. "I _know_ those inventions he patented aren't his. Like a McFly could ever make something useful."

Jennifer had to force every square inch of her to stay calm as this man was insulting her, her family and her friends. "I do not have to listen to this" she hissed towards the old man. "Have a nice day sir." With that, she walked out of the toilet, towards Emmett and Marty.

"Well, that took you some time – what's the matter?" Emmett said, at first a bit annoyed but then worried about his wife as he noticed the look on Jennifer's face. "What happened out there? Did the toilet break down or something like that?"

"Ah, so you two are here too!" Biff's voice then sounded. Jennifer turned around to see the old man leaning in the doorway, hanging on both the door and his cane. "Should've figured you were all together. So, nutcase Brown, you managed to tear yourself away from your precious horses? You spend more time with them than with your own wife, or so I've heard."

"Biff Tannen" Emmett said, angrily. "I don't see any reason for you to come up and insult me and apparently my wife like that. I don't spend that much time with my horses, I'm just busy with my job a lot of time."

Biff waved his correction away. "Your job? You have to be joking. You're nothing but a mad ranch owner. And your friend, Marty McFly, is even nuttier than you are. You're nothing but a bunch of idiots and madmen." He looked around. "Where is McFly, anyway? Considering how much time you spend together, one would think that he's here now as well. And who is that boy you're with?"

Emmett was about to answer, but Marty was faster. "I'm Melvin Steven Eastwood, grandson of Clint Eastwood, mister Tannen" he replied. "I'm here on a journey to check out some universities, and my great-granduncle offered to let me stay at his housing facilities until I depart again."

Biff's eyes narrowed. "The grandson of Clint Eastwood?" he repeated. "How's your grandpa doing, kid? Is that loser still alive?"

Marty frowned. "My grandfather is alive and well, thank you very much for your worries" he responded. "He's got three children, my father included. The family is living on the East Coast, in Delaware."

Biff nodded. "Yeah, right" he said. "Then you should tell him that he'd better stay there, because if he ever sets one foot into Hill Valley again, I'm going to punch him out of town, and punch him out hard. You guys are just like that idiot Marty McFly. He never achieved anything in the history of Hill Valley."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you" Marty said mysteriously. "We have to go. Good day to you sir." He walked off, and Emmett and Jennifer followed him, knowing that it was better to do so than to stay in this case.

"I can't believe it" Jennifer said, as they had walked a few yards. "I mean, I know the guy's bad. You've told me all about it in the '80s. But to think that he could be so insulting to us… well, I'm not sure whether I'll ever see him in the same light again when we go home."

"I understand the feeling" Marty said. "I got an entirely different perspective on my parental figures thanks to temporal travelling. Of course, the situation isn't negative like yours is, but it is a difference in perspective wrought by time travel." He paused. "So, we were going to go to a clothes shop, right?"

"Exactly" Jennifer nodded enthusiastically. "I've seen a really interesting one at the other end of the floor. I bet that there are lots of fascinating future outfits in there. Then maybe we can buy something for Emmett too, and you of course… don't you agree, Emmett? Emmett?" She frowned, suddenly not seeing her husband anymore. "All right, where did he go?"

"He's standing over there" Marty replied, pointing at the window of a store. Jennifer nodded, and they walked over. "What's the matter?" Marty asked.

In response, Emmett smiled. "Look over there" he said, pointing at something behind the window.

Jennifer looked. The object Emmett was referring to was a thick book labeled 'American sports statistics, 1945-1995', with underneath it the addition, 'a must-have for every sports fan." She frowned. "All right, what's the matter with it? It's not like you've ever been interested in sports…"

Emmett looked at her as if she had just made the most stupid comment ever. "Don't you see?" he insisted. "This is a priceless artifact!"

"Artif… never mind" Marty began, quickly stopping his sentence as he noticed that his friend had pronounced it the right way for once.

"Don't you see?" the horse dealer repeated. "We can take this back in time, go with it to a sports race, bet on the winner, and never lose! This is a great opportunity to make as much money as we could possibly need!"

Jennifer nodded, understanding and impressed with her husband's smart plan. Marty, however, gasped and shook his head. "Emmett, what are you doing!" he exclaimed. "Don't you see how this goes right against everything I've told and taught you two about time travel the past hours – what I taught you in 1955? Knowledge about future events is dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs! That's exactly the reason _you_ were so stubborn about not listening to my warning about the police officers shooting you!"

"WHAT?" Jennifer exclaimed, horrified. "Marty, tell me you are joking!"

Marty and Emmett both blushed. "We probably should've told you earlier, but we wanted to avoid you coming into possession of the knowledge for fear that it might horrify you too much" Marty said. "But now that you heard it – on the night that I travelled to 1955 in the temporal field warping and displacement machine…"

"Time machine" Emmett added, wanting to be sure that his wife understood.

"…police officers showed up, naming me as a primary suspect in their case of a missing microchip" Marty continued. "It's a long story, but for now, we can do with the fact that I was, as far as I knew, innocent, but the police officers didn't want to hear about it. They even wanted to shoot me, but Emmett jumped in front of me. He died to save my life."

Jennifer trembled, moved by the story. "But he's alive now!" she pointed out, confused. "Or did you say that you… warned him? In 1955? But he didn't want to listen…"

"That is correct" Marty replied. "I had a warning letter for him, but Emmett tore it up and threw it away. However, it was found by my male and female ancestor once removed – yes, they know about the time machine, it's a long story – and they read it, understood its value, and persuaded Emmett to read it as well."

Jennifer nodded. "That's good news, I suppose" she said. "It still sounds terrible… but at least there was a happy end."

"True" Marty said. "But going back to the current subject, Emmett, you told me then, I told you before, and I'll tell you now: knowledge about the times that have yet to come from your perspective can not be taken along to our home time. There is some knowledge bound to slip in, and that's inevitable, so there is not much I can do about it. But willingly altering history for personal, financial gain!" He appeared disgusted. "That's absolutely out of the question."

"You can't forbid me to buy it" Emmett said. "I'm an adult, and I can decide for my own what I want and don't want."

"Fine" Marty said. "Go ahead, buy the book. But it's not entering _my _truck. If you want to buy and keep that book, Emmett, you can resign yourself to living the rest of your life in 2015 and the years after it, because I'm not taking you back to 1985 then."

Emmett frowned. "Marty, you can't mean that!"

"I certainly can" the teen said. "As long as you insist on keeping that book, I insist on you staying here with it. This isn't just a fun trip, Emmett, and you can't just do whatever you want. This is the space-time continuum we're talking about here!"

Emmett pondered that for a while. "All right" he finally said, sighing and admitting his defeat. "All right, I won't buy it. I don't have any money on me anyway." He took out his wallet. "Well, I do have some money, but none that would allow me to purchase any 2015 items, as it's all '80s or '70s cash."

"Yeah, the only way you can buy something with that is if you went to an antiques store and traded it in" Marty agreed. "But you don't have to do that. There's nothing you can use the 2015 money for in 1985, and I'm perfectly okay with buying things for you two here… as long as it's something reasonable, and no sports book."

"No sports book, Marty" Emmett promised. "I won't go back to buy it, I promise. It's kind of sad that we have to let this opportunity slip, but I suppose it's for the best."

Marty nodded, and they walked off into the direction of the clothes shop, happily talking and laughing. However, they weren't aware that they were being watched, and had been watched, by an old man. A man who, after they had walked off, went into the store which Emmett had just gazed back, and came out with a certain sports book.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **_New chapter. This time, there is some more action, but all of the 2015 portion of the story is not finished yet. There'll be more to come. _

**Disclaimer: I do not own any movie that exists, so why would I own this one? **

**5: Chapter Five**

"I believe the quarter is about finished now."

"Ah, come on. Just five more minutes."

Marty McFly looked at Jennifer, who was helping an embarrassed Emmett put some 2015 clothes on, and sighed. "Should've known you were going to find ways to delay our departure from this store" he said. "Jennifer, we should be leaving now. We had an appointment of a quarter, and I believe it has been roughly twenty minutes since we entered the shop. I've already given you an additional five minutes of shopping time."

Jennifer rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Why the hurry?" she asked. "It's only five-thirty. And won't the time still be the same once we go back?"

"That's correct, but I'm getting a little tired of spending time in here" Marty said. "I don't doubt that Emmett is getting bored as well, for that matter. You've got a few sets of clothing picked out already – why can't we just leave?" He shook his head. "What is it with women that makes them spend so much time in clothes stores, of all places?"

"You should see yourself when you're in an electronics store" Jennifer pointed out. "Last time we went on a trip with you and you got into one, you promised us that you'd be out in five minutes, you just had to check something. We waited _forty minutes_ before deciding to go and fetch you, and it took us over half an hour to get you out. All in all, we spent over an hour in that store."

Marty blushed. "I suppose that I can overreact on certain issues, too" he admitted. "But we're in the times that have yet to come from our perspective now. Everything works a little different here. And besides, didn't you once tell me that if someone else does something wrong, it doesn't automatically mean that you're allowed to make the mistake as well?"

Jennifer opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again. "Yeah, you're right" she admitted. "We should probably leave, but it's just so interesting to see all this. Do you mind if I have a look at what Emmett looks like in the complete set before going to the counter?"

"That's all right" Marty ensured her. "I'll just go out of the shop already. But I'll be back if you're not out in five minutes as well."

"All right" Jennifer promised, smiling. "I'll try to keep to that. See you later, Marty."

The teen nodded and headed to the front of the shop. Jennifer was certainly quite the character. But then again, so was her husband. Or he, for that matter, or a lot of other people in the town. Everybody had a little weirdness in him- or herself. It would be, ironically, weird if they didn't.

As Marty was musing about this, he noticed the door opening. He casually looked up to see who it was… only to stop right in his tracks as he saw it.

The person entering there was none other than Jennifer herself. Only this wasn't the Jennifer he had just left in the shop. It was the Jennifer from 2015, and she wasn't alone either. A few moments later, Older Emmett entered, and Marty knew enough of voices to identify the third person.

It was him.

Not wanting to see himself, Marty turned around and ran back to the others as fast as he could, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to ensure that none of their future selves had spotted him yet. It hadn't happened, but Marty did notice that they were going in the same direction. This was not good.

Jennifer frowned as he arrived. "Marty, it hasn't even been a minute yet. What are you doing here?"

"No time" the teenager said. "We have to hide now." He sighed, getting tired from his race towards his current position. "It's our future selves. They're in this shop and they are heading in this general direction."

Jennifer's eyes went wide, Emmett gasped. "Are you telling us that our future versions are right here in this very shop?" the latter said, astonished. Marty nodded. "Holy shit!"

"Emmett…" Jennifer said, a bit disapprovingly, even though it was clear that in these circumstances, she could care less. "Where _should_ we hide, then?"

Marty looked around, bewildered. "I don't know!" he exclaimed. "I suppose that we should attempt to get out as soon as possible on a route that avoids them. Who knows how long they will be here." He pointed at the fitting room. "We could hide in there, I suppose."

"I'm not sure whether that'll work" Emmett pointed out. "Our other selves might need to go in there, too."

"Good point, but we've got no time to worry" Marty replied. He hurriedly pushed Emmett and Jennifer into the room before going in himself. It was not a moment to soon – shortly after, their older selves came within view. Marty, though desperately avoiding himself, couldn't help but stare at his best friend's older selves. He saw Jennifer do the same and helped her back in as quick as he could – again just in time, as she was looking directly at her future self – before turning back to watch, too thrilled by the opportunity to see his future friends to scold Jennifer. "Great Scott" he hissed, as soft as he could manage. It was one thing to see your friends three decades older in the papers – it was another thing all together to see them older for real.

"Emmett, do you want anything from this?" Future Jennifer said, looking across the clothes. "Oh, who am I asking, of course not. You'd never voluntarily buy some."

"Sounds like you haven't improved over the years, Emmett" Jennifer whispered. "I had my hopes up, you know, but older me pretty much destroyed them now."

"I told you before, I already have enough" Future Emmett said. "Do you want anything from here, Marty, or should we let Jennifer do the job?"

"I'm all right with letting Jennifer choose everything" a voice Marty recognized as his own responded, though the voice was deeper than the one he currently spoke with. "I wish she hadn't taken us to this shop." He frowned. "Why, that's strange."

"What?" Future Emmett asked.

"Over there. There is no one to accompany those sets of clothes. As if the purchasers just packed up and left the building."

"Probably some kids playing around" Future Jennifer said. "Come on, you two. We've got enough to do in here."

Future Emmett and Future Marty both muttered something that sounded like a reply, then apparently followed her, as their footsteps distanced. After about half a minute, Marty carefully peeked around the curtain in the fitting room, and sighed with relief. "They're gone" he reported. "Great Scott, that was close."

"It certainly was" Emmett replied. "You want to stay here any longer?"

Marty shook his head, determined. "Jennifer, you go to the counter and pay for the clothes – here's 7000 dollars, that should be enough. I'll stay here with Emmett and check that they won't come back."

"Right" Jennifer said, walking off to the counter. Emmett sighed with relief. "That was close" he muttered.

"Exactly" Marty replied. "I hope you don't mind that we're going to leave 2015 after exiting this store."

"No, certainly not" Emmett ensured him. "It'll be kind of sad to go already, after having been here for just three hours or so, but it's been an exciting trip, and it's not like we'll never get to travel through time again.. is it?"

"Certainly not" Marty replied, smiling. "I'm going to keep the temporal field warping and displacement machine at home for a while, perhaps seeing if I can do some improvements, but I spent too much time in this to abandon it all together. Visiting the future was my main goal with this invention, but it's not going to be the only one, I am sure of that."

"Have you got destinations in mind?" Emmett asked. "I know, we talked a little about that last night, but I don't exactly recall…"

"I don't believe I mentioned anything" Marty said. "Besides going to the future, of course. However, one thing we can be sure of is that your initial goal to go to 1955 and see what you were like back then is absolutely out of the question now that I have visited the year and made such an impact on it. I don't want an additional you causing even more trouble."

"Yeah, I suppose I get what you mean" the sixty-five-year-old muttered. "How about 1935, then? It would be interesting to see what the world was like when I was a teenager. I remember it, but it was a long time ago. The main reason for time travelling to the past besides altering history is nostalgia, I think, and you couldn't have that since you weren't even born yet at the time. If you'd take me back in time and allow me to have a look… well, it would certainly be interesting."

"It would," Marty said, "but we'll have to think about it. After now, I'm going to plan every journey we go on thoroughly. You know what happened in 1955 and what is happening now regarding our future selves. Granted, we can't exactly see what our future counterparts are doing in advance, but when going to the past, we can take precaution."

"Why can't _they_ see that, then?" Emmett asked.

"See what?" Jennifer wanted to know, rejoining them.

"I was refarr – referring to the fact that our future versions didn't realize that we were here" Emmett explained, as they walked out of the shop. "I mean, shouldn't they have known? It's their future, they should've been through it before…"

"It's a strange thing for sure, but I suppose that it sort of relies on the fact that they aren't supposed to be around in the first place" Marty replied. "They're our future selves, despite the fact that we have departed from 1985. I'm not sure when they returned in their history, but it might be the case that in their past, they never departed in the first place."

Emmett frowned. "Wouldn't that go wrong somewhere?" he asked. "I mean, if there were two versions of us, one that went here, and one that never left, then shouldn't they still be there when we went back, resulting in double versions of us in the present as well?"

"Very clever" Marty complimented. "I'm not sure how to handle that part of my theory either, but I presume that there is a way around it. It must obviously be the case, as they are here right now and don't appear to recall any of our experiences."

"Obviously" Jennifer muttered.

"Well, you're the Doc, Marty" Emmett said, then adding with a chuckle: "And don't correct me now, because I suppose that your future self is one. He ought to be, considering it's been thirty years."

"Correct" Marty replied. "Yes, that's something I hadn't thought of yet. It's a fascinating aspect of our journey here, to see that finally change. There's so much they have in the future that weren't around in the past, but were on the verge of happening. It's strange to see how thirty years of world history passed for us in less than an instant."

"Right" Emmett replied, absent-mindedly patting his pants' pocket, then frowning. "Hmm…" he muttered, confused.

"What's the matter?" Jennifer asked.

"Did you take my wallet with you?" Emmett asked. "It's not in my pants' pockets, and I'm pretty sure I had it in there when we started on your game of changing clothes."

Jennifer frowned. "I'm pretty sure I didn't have it" she replied, looking into the bag she was carrying. "And its not here. Not separate from the pants, and not in their pockets either."

Emmett looked at his best friend. "Marty, have you…"

"Not me, Emmett" the teen replied. "I haven't been anywhere near." He paused. "Do you remember where you last had it? That could be vital to the process of tracking it down."

Emmett thought as hard as he could. "Hmm…" he muttered after a few moments. "I remember taking it out when I had to fit those clothes. I can't recall putting it back later though…" He gasped, as he realized something. "Holy shit! My wallet must still be in the shop!"

Marty's eyes widened. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "Are you certain?"

Emmett shrugged. "Where else would it be?"

Marty frowned. "We could collect it… but our future selves will be there."

"You can't tell me you want me to leave it behind" Emmett said, horrified. "I know it's dangerous to alter history, but just leaving my wallet behind… who knows, they might be gone! They were gone when we exited that fitting room, weren't they?"

The teen nodded. "You're right, Emmett" he said. "We should at least have a look. For future trips, it would be bad if we left it there – the owner of the shop might stumble across it, see hints it's from the past, and become suspicious. Not likely, I admit, but it's possible. Or worse, our future selves might find it."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be too great" Emmett agreed.

"Well, I'm not sure whether we should do this" Jennifer announced. "Sure, you want your wallet back… but if we have to go inside that shop and face our older versions again, I'm not sure whether I want to go along. Facing my future self was no great thing, I can tell you."

"As I just agreed with Emmett, she'd probably be gone" Marty ensured her. "But yes, I understand your feelings." He got the key of the truck out of his pocket and gave it to her. "Wait in the car until we are back – it should not take too long."

"Okay" Jennifer replied, walking off.

"So, what now?" Emmett asked, looking at his watch absentmindedly. "Just go back to the shop?"

"I suppose so" Marty agreed, as he began to walk off in the direction they had just gone from. "I don't think we have any other options available, and we have to do _something_."

Emmett nodded. "Very right" he muttered. "We'd better hurry, too – don't want to face the risk that anybody took it away."

Marty nodded, and remained silent as they walked the one-minute-distance back to the store. As they re-entered and neared the fitting rooms, Marty looked directly at the place they had just been, and narrowed his eyes. "Just our luck… of all places she could pick, Jennifer's older self had to go shopping there" he reported to Emmett, as if the older man couldn't see it for himself. "I don't like it, but we'll have to leave the wallet behind."

"No way" Emmett replied. "The deed to that new chunk of land I bought for the ranch is inside. Do you have any idea what happens if that paper ends up missing?" He paused, thinking it over for a moment. "Granted, I don't know exactly what the precedure…"

"Procedure" Marty prompted.

"…what that is in cases like this either, but I have a pretty good guess" Emmett continued. "I can't leave my wallet there."

"You're right" Marty responded. "But neither of us can go up to them. You look almost exactly like your future self and are easily recognizable. As for me, I might be thirty years younger, but they'll see through whatever disguise I claim for me immediately. The 'Melvin Eastwood' thing we used with Biff won't work here either, for the reason that they know who Clint Eastwood really was. And we certainly can't wait for them to go away. Knowing Jennifer… we were lucky she left right away the first time because they were only passing through."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Emmett asked. "I told you, we can't leave my wallet here!"

Marty gave him a look. "You're beginning to sound a lot like Mr. Lester, Emmett."

"No wonder, in these cases – hey!" Emmett looked at their future counterparts and frowned. "My other self is leaving. Guess he's going to the bathroom or something like that."

Marty smiled, getting an idea. "That's it!" he called out. "You can just walk up there, pretend to be your older counterpart, take the wallet, and walk out again! It's perfect!"

Emmett frowned. "But what if my older self comes back?"

"I'll be keeping an eye on him to ensure that he shall not return before you have proceeded with the plan" Marty said. "Don't worry, Emmett, it'll be just fine."

Emmett nodded, reluctant but knowing there was no other way to get his wallet back, and set off. Marty watched him go for a moment, then carefully slipped behind the counter. He passed his older self and Future Jennifer as inconspicuous as possible and proceeded to go on in the direction Future Emmett had gone. He was just in time, too – the older horse dealer just got into the bathroom. Marty selected a fitting room that had a good view of the door Emmett would have to come out again, and waited.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not see what gain I could get if I were to claim the ownership of the Back to the Future movies, which I obviously do not own, so I do not. **

_Author's Note: _Here's the next chapter. As I prepared to upload it, I realized that the Marty's conflict somewhat resembles the conflict of the Docs in Mary Jean Holmes and Kristen Sheley's When Worlds Collide story (that I had just read). Ironic, since those are interdimensional counterparts, and these Marty's are the same. Anyway, here's the chapter, and please review. And to Bttf 4444, my thanks for the reviews she has already submitted.

**6: Chapter Six**

Emmett took a deep breath as he approached his future wife. Though he had felt the urge, Emmett hadn't peeked past the curtain during their previous 'meeting', and thus had no idea what Jennifer's older version looked like. He could make a pretty good guess, though, knowing her and what she had looked like some twenty years before, and it was on that view of her that he went up to the section of the shop his 'wife' was in.

It was also that view that made him almost faint when he saw the real version. Quite surprisingly, Jennifer looked young. Not young as in her early twenties, but still a lot younger than he'd expected her to be. She was even younger than she had been in 1985. If Emmett had to make a guess, he'd expect her to be forty, perhaps a little older, but definitely no eighty-two.

Future Jennifer frowned. "What's the matter, Emmett?" she asked. "Back already?"

Future Marty nodded. "Yeah, you've been out for less than a minute. I thought you'd take longer. Didn't you go to the bathroom?"

Well, that confirmed his earlier suspicions at least. "No, I didn't" he replied. "I was on my way, actually, but I then remembered that I, uh, needed something."

"What did you need?" Future Jennifer asked.

"My wallet" Emmett blurted out, the thing being the first object that appeared on his mind. "Uh, we have to pay at the toilets – and I didn't have it on me." Looking around, he quickly found the object he was looking for. "But here it is" he added, quickly taking it.

Jennifer frowned. "Emmett, you know as well as I do that you don't have to pay at these toilets. And even if it is, why couldn't you just pay with your thumb like usual?" She frowned. "Also, that thing is not your wallet. It's green, and yours is red."

"It's a new one" Emmett lied.

"Looks more like an old one to me" Future Jennifer said. She inspected it thoroughly from the outside. "It resembles the one you had a long time ago – remember that wallet, Marty?"

Future Marty chuckled. "How should I remember all the wallets you and Emmett keep around?" he pointed out, taking the thing from Jennifer as she handed it over. "That's like me expecting you to know which electronics I bought and when." He opened the wallet, and took a look inside, inspecting the content before suddenly frowning. "No, it's not yours, Emmett" he said, handing it back with the strangest look on his face.

"It is" Emmett said, trying to ignore the glances Marty was casting at him. "I got it for a present from someone in the ranch business for a land transaction."

Jennifer frowned. "The last transaction you had was years ago" she replied. "I doubt it's from there."

"I'll let you two fight out the origin of that wallet" Future Marty then announced. "I really need to go to the bathroom, too." He walked off, and Emmett was about to follow him as Jennifer tapped on his coat. "You haven't told me where that wallet was from just yet" she reminded him. "Did you really get it for a present? From who did you get it?"

Emmett frowned at her. "Why are you so insistent on this? You don't really need to know, do you?"

Jennifer shrugged. "I don't know, I just had a weird feeling about this" she admitted. "Perhaps you're right. You'd better go to the bathroom, we'll talk about this later."

Emmett nodded and walked off, relieved to be out of there. At least he finally had his wallet back. Smiling happily, he was about to conduct a search for Marty, when he spotted a television of some sorts in a corner, which had been put there to amuse the store's visitors, obviously. Curiosity about the programs of the future overtook him, and Emmett, ensuring himself that Marty wouldn't mind if he had to wait another while, walked over and started watching.

oooooooo

Marty looked at his arm in frustration. According to the watch that he had set to correspond to the local time, the current time was now a quarter to six, local time. He was sure it had been at least five minutes since he had sent Emmett off – so what was taking him so long? He opened the curtain and glanced over to the direction where Emmett's older self should come from. Well, at least the future version of his friend was as tardy as the present – correction, past – version was, so there was nothing to worry about just yet. Marty was sure there would be something, though, if things continued like this.

As the teen was pacing around in frustration, he suddenly became aware of somebody opening the curtain behind him. The teen swung around and looked towards the opening in mild anger. "Well, Emmett," he began, "you certainly took your – Great Scott!"

The person who entered the room was none other than his future self! Marty gawked as he stared into these too familiar light blue eyes, realizing that it was him but not being capable of coping with the information. He felt himself losing consciousness and in a last minute attempt to save it, he shut his eyes and ripped his face away. Turning around, he attempted to breathe, noticing that he was shaking all over.

"That was quite the scare we gave each other" his own voice came from behind him, chilling Marty to the bone. "I'm sorry, I didn't know for sure that you were here. Are you all right?"

Marty shook off the hand his older self tried to place on his arm. "I'm fine," he snapped, "but I'm not sure you are. Aren't you aware of the danger this is posing to history? You can't just walk up to me like that! We might have caused a major paradox!"

Future Marty sighed. "Yeah, correct" he muttered. "It's been thirty solar years since I invented the temporal field warping and displacement vehicle, and that never happened. Listen, Marty, we need to talk. There's some business I have to discuss with you."

"I don't have any business to discuss with you" Marty replied, sitting down but keeping his face away from his future self.

"I know this is a strange experience for you" Future Marty said, sitting down as well, which caused his younger self to scoot away from him. "I wasn't sure about this either, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Marty, as I said, we need to talk."

"I don't need to talk with _you_" Marty muttered. "It's useless, too. If you want to talk to yourself, go to the mirror and talk to yourself there. You don't have to bother me."

"I wish I didn't" Future Marty said, sighing. "Listen, Marty, don't think I don't have knowledge of how you feel. I was you once. But I also know that we have to converse about this. I need to give you information about the times that have yet to come from your perspective."

"Not necessary" Marty muttered in reply. "It's too dangerous, too. Don't you have any clue about how much of a threat this might pose to the space-time continuum? No man should know too much about their own destiny!"

Future Marty rolled his eyes. "I seem to recall that you quickly removed those objections when you had to save Emmett's life" he said.

Marty sighed. "How can you be here, anyway?" he asked. "Did I make another mistake, like when I didn't know my future version would exist at all, and do you, for some reason, remember what happened?"

"No, I don't" Future Marty admitted. "The reason I managed to find you is because I remembered my previous visit, and I knew I was going back to fetch Jennifer and Emmett. Since I didn't remember anything about what happened then, I assumed that it must have involved a future temporal journey. I thus knew that you would come back, and the thing that proved to me that you were here now was Emmett talking about a wallet being his, while that wallet contained a driver's license that expires in 1987. Ordinarily, I could have dismissed that as a coincidence, but I wasn't about to dismiss it, not considering what I knew."

"Great work" Marty said, sarcastic. "You want me to cheer for your brilliance in finding out that I was here?"

"No, I want you to listen to me" Future Marty said, angered at Marty's sarcasm. "What I want to tell you is really important, and I don't have much time. In a moment or two, Emmett and Jennifer are going to look for me. Do you want them to find out that you are here, too? And risking an even bigger problem than you already think to have?"

Marty had to think about that for a moment. If his older self really wasn't going to leave, listening to him might be the wisest course of action. And it was him, after all. He doubted that he would just approach his younger self for something which didn't matter. "Oh, all right then" he finally conceded. "But make it quick."

"I will" Future Marty said, pleased. "As a matter of fact – the thing I wanted to speak to you concerns Emmett and Jennifer."

"What about them?" Marty asked.

Future Marty sighed. "It's their childlessness" he said. "As you know, in your time, Emmett and Jennifer have been happily married for nineteen years, but have never had any children. In my time, another thirty years has been added to that, and they still haven't had it, despite the fact that they did finally decide that they had liked the idea. It was too late at the time. They're old now and despite rejuvenation techniques, I doubt that it's still possible for them."

Marty had to chuckle at the idea, then nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so" he said. "So what do you want me to do about that? Even in our time, Emmett's already sixty-five. Jennifer is fifty-two. I doubt that they would be capable of producing a child."

"Correct," Future Marty replied, "but if you were to go back in time…"

"Out of the question!" Marty called out immediately. "I won't go back in time and deliberately alter history like that." He stood up and started pacing around again, not bothered by the limited space the fitting room offered. "I can't believe you're asking me this. You're my future self, I would have thought that you knew better than to expect this from me. I would have thought you'd agree with me."

"I suppose I do, in principle" Future Marty said, sighing again. "But you haven't been noticing those things for as long as I have. As I said, Emmett and Jennifer have been married for almost fifty years now and about ten to fifteen of those, they have had the feeling they should have had descendants while they still had the chance. I have noticed their loneliness more than once, and every time I saw that, I felt an urge to do something about it. I know that you don't want the space-time continuum endangered, and I feel the same. However, I love my friendly acquaintances too, and I do not wish for them to be unhappy when I have the possibility to change it."

"Why don't you change it then, huh?" Marty challenged him. "Take your own temporal field warping and displacement machine, go back in time and alter the present. I would've never known about it if you had approached the situation that way."

"My temporal field warping and displacement machine is gone" Future Marty said, with a sigh. "I dismantled it in early 1997 after a journey through the space-time continuum that almost caused a time paradox. I had been using it for over a decade by that time, and I figured that I could do without. And I can, more or less."

"Good for you" Marty replied, then realizing that must have come out worse than he intended. "Sorry. But I can't just go back and change history for you! The risks…"

"Listen, who's the expert in this?" Future Marty said, rising as well. "I thought that I was the one who has travelled through time for twelve years, while this is your… third journey, I suppose?"

"Correct" Marty replied. "I suppose you have a point with that." He sighed. "All right, I'll think about the issue. I'm not guaranteeing you anything, though."

"At least that's a start" Future Marty said. He turned towards Marty and shut his eyes, prompting his younger self to do the same. They then shook hands, causing Marty to think how this was the weirdest hand-shake he'd ever experienced. With a "good luck" Future Marty then walked off again.

Marty stared after his older self for a while in sheer disorientation, then realized where he was again and started looking for Emmett. That wasn't too hard – the horse ranch owner was sitting in front of some kind of television-like device, watching it obsessively. A cough from Marty caused him to turn around.

"Marty" he said, embarrassed. The teen was reminded of Emmett's reaction when watching the video about him getting shot in 1955. "I didn't hear you come up to me. Fascinating thing they have here."

"I suppose so" the teen said. "Did you retrieve the wallet?"

In response, Emmett waved the item through the sky in a cheerful manner. Marty let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Then we should go home right now. We've been hanging around here a little too long, I think."

Emmett frowned. "I don't know" he said. "I kind of liked it in here, you know."

"I guess so" Marty replied. "We have to go back, though. Jennifer is waiting for us at the truck."

Emmett nodded, and they walked off, glad to put the world of 2015 behind them. Despite all of it's interesting features, sometimes there was no time like the present.

oooooooo

Biff Tannen smirked, as Jennifer went down. It had been surprisingly easy to knock her out, even with only his cane as a weapon. However, Jennifer hadn't seen what was coming for her, and the cane was with a fist at the top for a reason. Of course, it didn't really matter why she had been knocked out by the cane blow. All that mattered was that she _was _out for the count, and that she was now unable to prevent the theft of the time machine.

The time machine. Even though he had by now come to accept it for what it was, Biff still felt hesitation about the real function of the car when he entered it. He was pretty sure that it had to be desperation which made him enter – he would never gone this far otherwise. But when following 'Melvin Eastwood' in order to teach him a lesson and find out what the teen had been hinting at earlier, he had clearly heard him mention it. If this boy was Marty McFly from the 1980s… well, it would certainly explain some things.

Including, of course, that flying car he had seen at Brown's house thirty years ago. Biff had let his mind wander over the issue a few times, and he was confident that this was the same car. That car had flown and had disappeared. Biff looked forward. Could this do the same?

The old bully shut the truck's door and turned on the flying circuits. The hover controls worked as any other car, but he was sure there was something more to it. Especially the control systems next to the steering wheel seemed very peculiar to him. Biff was sure this was the key to how the machine operated, and that he could figure it out if he gave himself some time. Then noticing a switch, Biff turned it on.

The displays came to life, and Biff could now clearly see what they meant. The upper readout, marked 'Destination Time', was October 31st, 2015, 3:30 P.M., which was this afternoon. That had to be when they had arrived. The central readout marked the Present Time, and read October 31st, 2015, 5:55 P.M. Finally, the lower readout marked the Last Time Departed, which was also self-explanatory, and read October 26th, 1985, 11:03 A.M. Biff let out a gasp, as he remembered the date and time. It was the day he had seen the flying truck… and he knew it had been late in the morning when it happened!

Now almost cheering with joy, Biff started to fiddle with the controls for himself. Where did he want to go? Why, to the past of course. He had to go there to bring himself the sports book he'd just bought. But at which point in time? 1985, the year the machine apparently just came from? No, that was too late. 1965, even? No, that was probably not a good year either. Perhaps 1958, when he would first be able to gamble? Biff considered that for a moment. It was a nice idea, but he just had the feeling there was a better option…

Suddenly, inspiration hit the old man. Carefully, he typed in '11121955'. November 12th, 1955. The date appeared on the keypad. Biff was about to change the time as well when he realized that 3:30 P.M. was actually all right. He remembered going over to the car repair shop late that afternoon – he'd been a bit late for dinner thanks to it, something his grandmother had pestered him about for the entire remnant of the evening until he got to the dance – and it would be a perfect spot to give the sports book to younger Biff. And perhaps alter his life for the better, and finally make him not dread every November 12th as the memory of George McFly ending his good time at Hill Valley High School permanently haunted it. This November 12th, the sixtieth anniversary, was going to be fun instead.

Grinning happily, Biff then flew away from the Courthouse Square, as he prepared to travel through time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own much. **

_Author's Note: New chapter. Marty and Emmett leave 2015, and end up in a very different world... _**  
**

**7: Chapter Seven**

Marty smiled as they exited the Courthouse Mall. It had been an exhausting afternoon, with many problems and some interesting information from his future self, but all in all, he couldn't say that he had absolutely disliked the day. What advice he had gotten from his future counterpart would probably give him a headache for some time now, as he'd debate with himself on whether or not he shot fulfill Emmett's future self's wish, but when taking the day as a whole, it had brought him a lot of positive things too, and Marty was glad for that.

As they then approached the time truck, Marty noticed Jennifer was sound asleep on the boxes next to it. "Looks like she fell asleep" the teen muttered. "That's strange, isn't it? She didn't seem to be very tired earlier…"

"She must have been hiding it" Emmett figured. "Strange, though, since I was the one who was up most of the night… well, maybe she went to bed later than I thought she did, or the shock of being in the future exhausted her."

"Yes, either of that is a possibility" Marty replied. "I hope you don't mind if we don't wake her before we go, and just carry her back to the car. We're in a bit of a hurry here, and she appears to be sound asleep."

"Why are you in a hurry?" Emmett inquired, as he took Jennifer's head and shoulders, while Marty took her legs. "It's only six P.M. or something like that. And were going to be back the moment we left, right?"

Marty shrugged. "I just don't want to risk people recognizing us" he said. "Plus, I have a feeling that we should leave. Don't ask me why I feel that way, because I don't really know but I just feel that we should." He shook his head. "The mind is often irrational, I suppose, but I really have the feeling that this time around, I should just do what I think is right."

"It's fine with me" Emmett informed him, as they put Jennifer in the car and went inside. He carefully took a position under his wife before adding: "Where, uh, _when _are we going?"

"Home" Marty replied. "October 26th, 1985, 9:00 P.M. It is a bit late, I must admit, but I don't want to run into any of the troubles we had the previous time again… or now, for that matter. And the Last Time Departed confirms the date, if we didn't know that already… hey, that's strange."

"What's the matter?" Emmett asked.

In response, Marty pointed towards the Last Time Departed display. "It says November 12th, 1955" he said. "Must be some kind of error. Not something that we'll let ourselves be bothered by, though. I'll see what I can do about it once we get home." He rapidly put in the date and time of their destination. "All right, engine running, fusion engine already filled, off we go!"

Once more, the temporal field warping and displacement machine's wheels folded in and the machine started accelerating through the sky, rapidly climbing up to 88 miles per hour. As it did so, though, Emmett frowned. "Marty?" he asked.

"Yes, Emmett?" the teen replied, a bit distracted.

"The sky-road thing looks strange" the older man replied. As Marty looked out of the window, he had to agree with his friend. The skyway was indeed, in terrible shape, much different from how it had been just a few hours ago. And what was the faint rumbling in the distance?

"Let's leave" the horse dealer advised. Normally, Marty might have contested that advice, scolding his friend for running away from phenomena he couldn't explain. Now, though, Marty felt exactly the same, that they _should_ leave, or something serious was going to happen. He hit the gas and rapidly accelerated the final miles up to 88. When the truck reached eighty-eight miles per hour, it then broke the time barrier, and everything changed around it. Marty smiled, his heartbeat slowing down from the rapid speed it had been going at just moments before. "Looks like everything's all right" he said, smiling towards Emmett.

The sixty-five-year-old sat upright, looking at the world around them and at the time circuits, which now all showed correct times and dates. "Did we really make it, then?" he asked. "Are we… back?"

Before Marty could reply, an airplane flew over, passing just inches above the vehicle. The teen gasped as it flew out of sight. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "If that had hit the time machine, it wouldn't have looked good!"

"It certainly wouldn't!" Emmett agreed, also shocked. "Well, at least we're back in 1985. In the future, I can imagine it would have been even harder for a car in the sky, with all that traffic."

"You gamble" Marty agreed, as they began to descend. "I don't see how Goldie Wilson III can keep insisting that the drivers do not have to worry about traffic problems anymore. Compared to 1985, I think it's gotten worse. Passing underneath or above a vehicle while on a skyway might be illegal, but almost nobody bothers, and it's much more dangerous than on a normal road. Can you imagine going down a bit while on the skyway and there's suddenly another car beneath you?" His friend nodded, understanding.

The truck then landed on the roads near the Square. "Your house is nearest, so I'll be driving there first" Marty informed his friend. "Something I was going to do anyway, but our current departure point makes it even more convenient."

"Well, you're probably right, Marty" Emmett replied. "It's a bit strange around here too, though."

"We're in 1985" the teen scientist pointed out. "I doubt that there would be that much strangeness in our home time. Well, there is, but nothing you're not used to."

Emmett shrugged. "I don't know either" he admitted. "I just feel that way. Don't you?"

Marty blushed. "Yeah, I have to admit that the feeling is not entirely unfamiliar to me" he replied. "Something is going on here, and I have no idea what it is."

The truck then entered John F. Kennedy Drive. Emmett chuckled. "You know, it's so strange to think that we left this place half a day ago. It has only been a few hours since we departed."

"That is a very good point" Marty responded. "Temporal travelling does alter your perspective of time. I hope you don't mind that I returned late in the evening. Were you planning anything for the day?"

"Nothing that couldn't have been postponed" Emmett ensured him. "It's been a very nice journey through time, and I don't think anything we could've done today had the possibility to make up for it." He looked at Jennifer, as the time machine stopped. "Are you going to help me taking her inside?"

"Of course" Marty replied. They exited the truck, and carried Jennifer towards the house. After a little fumbling with keys and Marty complaining because Emmett wasn't quick enough and he had to hold his friend's wife all by himself now, they decided to go through the back door, which did work. After carrying her through a few rooms, they could finally put Jennifer safe and sound in the bedroom. "Don't wake her until she awakes naturally" Marty warned. "I'm not sure what happened to make her so tired, but if she's going to be awake while she hasn't slept enough yet, she might fall asleep again."

"Got it, Marty" Emmett agreed, smiling. "You know, the house looks a bit weird."

Now that he gave himself time to look around, Marty found himself agreeing with his best pal. The house seemed a bit abandoned, there were papers around which Marty hadn't noticed around earlier in the morning, and for some reason, Emmett had apparently not done so either. The teenager shrugged. "Maybe Jennifer decided to do a bit of cleaning up this morning, but she didn't get finished and that's why there are still a lot of papers around" he proposed. "That would explain why she was so tired, too."

Emmett had to agree with that explanation. "Yeah, that sounds plausible" he said. "Are you heading out through the back door again?"

Marty shrugged. "Why not?" he said. "Doesn't take too much additional time after all. Call me if you need me to talk. I'll be at home, taking a look at the temporal circuitry."

"I will" Emmett promised. "See you later."

"You too." Marty exited, and headed back to his truck. Within a minute, he was on his way back to the Lyon Estates housing development.

One of the first things Marty noticed as he put the truck to a halt in front of his house was that there was an incredible amount of houses which were empty around. Marty didn't think any of the neighbors had plans to sell his house, and was surprised by the sudden occurrence. Trying to ignore it instead of thinking about it all night, Marty walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He knew his parents had to be home, and he also knew that they would not mind his coming home at this time, knowing perfectly well where he had been. Confident that he would be able to get in easily, he hummed a tune.

A tune which was promptly disrupted once the door was opened and a stranger stared into Marty's face. "Yeah?" the man asked, with a clear suspicion sounding in his voice.

Marty frowned. "Excuse me, sir, are my parents home?" he asked.

"This is my house" the man replied. "Are you from BiffCo and do you intend to show me another one of your propositions about buying it? I already told them I wasn't interested, and I'm more than willing to repeat it." Anger grew in his tone.

Marty took a few steps back, more in confusion than anything else. "Your house?" he repeated. "BiffCo? Great Scott, what is going on here!"

"Someone trying to come up to our house with a dumb excuse is going on here" the man replied. "Listen, you can go back right now because I've heard all of the tricks you guys use and I am not falling for it. I don't care whether there was an old law in the constitution that tells me that this house shouldn't be sold or that Biff inherited this from a distant relative or whatever excuse you can think up to make it not be my house. Good night sir." With that, the man closed the door.

Marty was left staring at the door like crazy. "All right, this does not make sense" he muttered to himself as he walked off the path and back to the truck. "I lived here up to half a day ago. What has changed so I suddenly don't live here anymore?" He frowned. "And what is BiffCo? Did we somehow alter history by going to the future?" He shook his head. "No, that's absolutely impossible. And we're in the right year, unless…" He was about to feel greatly relieved as he remembered the glitch in the time circuits, but he abandoned the thought a moment later. "No, that's no option" he muttered. "There is no manner on which the machine could have sent us to another time which resembles this, for there is no time that resembles this. Unless we were sent far into the times that have yet to come from our perspective, though…"

The teen had to think about that, as he started driving towards the Square. He didn't have any particular reason in mind why he was headed in that direction – it was just that the Courthouse Square seemed to be one thing that always changed between time periods, and going to what was likely to be a busy place could help him determine where he was easier. He just wished that he had studied time travel a bit more. Of course, he had read many books about the subject, but thanks to the fact that he had to work on building the actual machine too, he hadn't had time to do that to the fullest extent. As a result, there were still a lot of things about temporal travelling that he didn't know yet, things that might include information on how to handle a case like these. Of course, considering most time travel information was science-fiction, it would not be that much of a help, but at least it would be something.

As the truck began to near the Courthouse Square, Marty suddenly saw something that made him hit the brakes. "Great Scott!" he called out, his eyes inevitably drawn to a spot on the side of the road. Those were chalk outlines. Chalk outlines as in outlines made when someone was murdered. And while having someone murdered didn't automatically make a time period a dystopian one, it did make Marty think that whatever had happened here, it wasn't good. This was not a pleasant place. He shuddered, as the sound of police sirens came past.

He then had a thought. Could this really be a different time period? After all, the man had mentioned Biff Tannen's name. While it was a possibility that in the future, there would be another Tannen named Biff, Marty had a suspicion that this was not the case. But if it was not the future but the present, then he was not going to return home as easily as repairing the time machine. Because if that was the case, he would be in…

"…an alternate reality" Marty muttered, trying to remain calm as the possibility became more and more probable for him with the moment, becoming almost a certainty by the moment he ended his sentence. "I'm in an alternate reality."

Being a fan of anything related to science and science fiction, Marty knew more about alternate realities than the average man on the street. He had even caused one by time travelling back to 1955, altering his parents' courtship so that they were now much more successful. One of the assumptions he had carried with him when he first travelled through time that _hadn't _been disproved was the notion that with every journey to the past, an alternate reality was caused, a second timeline which erased the previous timeline from existence. Mostly the changes were minor, and even though they could have major effects later on, history was mostly unthreatened by it. The changes Marty had wrought were quite a bit larger, especially when taking Hill Valley, but when looking at it on a worldwide scale, very little had actually changed. Somehow, Marty doubted that it was the case in this world.

Marty then wondered how it could be that he was in an alternate reality. After all, Emmett and he had travelled to the future, not to the past, and when in the future, past history could not be changed. As a result, he could not be here.

Unless the time circuits malfunctioned in a bigger scale than anticipated.

The teen slowed down the truck and leant back to let his thoughts freely wander across the notion that had come up in his mind. What if the time machine had malfunctioned? What if it had taken him, Emmett and Jennifer to a wholly different world? An even worse thought then confronted itself. What if the time machine had been malfunctioning from the start? What if the world where his parents were happy and successful was just a trait of some other dimension, not something caused by his time travels? That would mean that Emmett was from another dimension than he was, and so was Jennifer. What if Emmett had a wholly different personality, and he'd just been faking to be what Marty remembered him being? What if he was actually some kind of mad serial killer?

Marty blinked. _"Did I just think that?" _He shook his head and chuckled. "I suppose I have read too much of the _fiction_ and too little of the _science _the last weeks" he muttered. "Great Scott. I should really keep my mind concentrated and not let it wander off into possibly farfetched scenarios, or…"

"STOP!"

Marty blinked, looking forwards. In front of the car was a police officer. The teen quickly hit the brakes and managed to avoid hitting the man. Despite his heartbeat quickening because of the near-accident, he still managed to bring out: "Good evening, officer. What is the matter at hand?"

"You're entering the Courthouse Square" the man informed him. "This is a no-driving zone because of the bikers festival Hill Valley is hosting this weekend. So park your car over there."

Marty nodded. "Certainly, officer." He had no idea what this world was like, and didn't want to say anything that might offend the man. As a result, he decided to say nothing at all. Instead, he just wanted to drive off, but the man stopped him. "What's it?"

The man gave him a very strange glance for a few moments, then shook his head. "No, never mind. I thought you were someone else. Couldn't be." He pointed at the parking spot again. "Go park over there, and have fun at the casino."

Marty, though confused, complied with the request – or actually, the order. After having parked the car on the required spot, he got out, locked it – you'd never know, especially not in an alternate reality – and started heading off to the Square, a little nervous. Whatever was in there, he was going to have to face it now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except for the things I own. **

_Author's Note: Chapter Eight, with some interesting news about Hill Valley 1985-A. As for Bttf 4444's comments, yes, Emmett Jr does not yet exist, and no, Marty is not committed. Biff knows he can't put his stepson in an _insane asylum _without Lorraine getting more than a little angry with him and pulling through with her plan of leaving him. _**  
**

**8: Chapter Eight**

Marty had been expecting a lot of strange things when he entered the Courthouse Square of the alternate world. However, reality was stranger than fiction once more. The place was run-down and filled with bikers. The teen even had to jump out of the way to avoid a few. He also bumped into a bum who was looking through garbage cans for food. The bum turned around. "Hey, watch where you're going!" he called out. "Crazy drunk pedestrian." The seventeen-year-old looked around, and identified a lot more bums, also searching for food. He then heard a blast nearby, and turned to look.

The source of the blast was more surprising than anything he'd seen this far, even though Marty had to admit that he could've seen bits of its coming, given the state of this alternate world. It was a nuclear waste plant, right in the centre of town, and it was letting out fumes the teen didn't need his ultra-high IQ for to deduce they weren't healthy at all. "Great Scott!" he squeaked, his voice higher than usual because of the shock. He backed off a little, and then finally looked towards the centre of the square: the Courthouse itself.

The building had changed from how Marty knew it to be in his 1985. Usually run-down, it was now an immense casino, with at least two dozen stores above it. The letters '_Biff's_' could be seen flashing above it in blue neon light. As the young scientist then looked at the centre of the building, he could see the building was called 'Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise'. Vast stairs led to the casino inside. In the centre of the name was Biff's face, smoking a hundred dollar bill.

"Great. Scott." Marty whispered, too stunned to say anything else. He then detected music coming from a building next to the Paradise. As he looked around, he could see that it was called the Biff Tannen Museum. The teen went over, not knowing anything else to do. The Pleasure Paradise had shocked him so much that he wasn't in full control of his movements anymore, and he was sure that it would take a while to recover his physical and mental capabilities to the fullest.

"Welcome to the Biff Tannen Museum" an announcer said at the building. As Marty looked over, he could see that it was a video being shown on a television. "Dedicated to Hill Valley's number one citizen and America's greatest living folk hero, the one, the only, Biff Tannen."

Fascinated (but in a largely negative way) by the video, Marty continued to watch as the video reported about Biff's family history and his ancestor from the Old West, Buford Tannen. About his 'first million dollars', which he had apparently won on a horse track in 1958. About the foundation of his corporation called BiffCo. About his love life.

"And how," the announcer then concluded, "in 1975, Biff finally got to marry his high school sweetheart, Lorraine Baines McFly."

The video then showed Biff and Lorraine coming out of a church, with wedding music being played. A reporter stuck a mike in Biff's face. "How do you feel?" he asked. "How do you feel, Mr. Tannen?"

Biff looked at Lorraine. "Third time's the charm" he replied, kissing her passionately.

Marty could stand a lot of things, but this sight he could definitely not take. "NOOO!" he screamed, backing off rapidly. "No! This isn't…"

Three men then seized control of his arms. As Marty struggled to get free, he recognized them as Biff's gang. "How did you get free?" the one asked.

"Listen, sunny, you're coming with us upstairs" the second – Match – informed him.

"Let me go!" Marty called out, frustrated.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way" 3-D informed him. As Marty took the time to ponder that thought, he suddenly felt a bat of some sorts colliding with his skull. As he lost consciousness, he heard some final words:

"The easy way."

oooooooo

Marty felt sore, as he began to come to. His head hurt, and he was terribly confused. What had happened? Where was he? How had he ended up here, for that matter? He faintly remembered something about finding an alternate world…

He then detected presence nearby in – well, whatever room he was in. The shape was faintly familiar, and Marty figured that it had to be his mother. "Mother?" he tried. "Is that you?"

"There, there, now" his mother's voice replied, as she put a washcloth on his head. "You've been asleep for about two hours now. Just relax."

Marty groaned, rolling over and causing the washcloth to slide off again. He felt better now that he had confirmation that it was his mother talking to him, but he still didn't feel as good as he should. "I had a – terrible neural sequence that occurs during one of the sleeping phases" he muttered, struggling to remember. "It was about Hill Valley – and it was altered…"

"Well, you're safe and sound now" his mother said, putting the washcloth back on it's old spot. "Back in the Hill Valley we all know, on the good old twenty-seventh floor."

For a moment, Marty was about to accept that and roll over again. Then, he blinked. "Twenty-seventh floor?" he exclaimed. The light was then switched on, and as he sat up, stunned, he first got his look at the woman who had been tending to him.

It was his mother all right, but she was changed. She wore a long purple dress, looked old and worn-out, and it was clear she had a breast-implant or two done. "Mother?" Marty said, gasping. "That can't be you! You're so… you're so… big!"

Lorraine came over to him again, concerned. "Why, yes it's me, Marty" she replied, taking the washcloth away from the bed. "Are you hungry? I can call room service…"

"Room service" the teen repeated, still stunned. His mind went to work again. This was an alternate reality, and judging from Lorraine's age, it had to be 1985. Things had changed. He now remembered Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise from what he had seen before he had been knocked out by Biff's gang, and in a way, her mother's presence here made sense with the last images he had seen before losing consciousness, on the Tannen Museum video, the images of Biff and his mother marrying. It made sense, in a very twisted way.

"Lorraine!"

The woman who was being addressed gasped. "Oh my god, it's your father" she told him.

"My father?" Marty repeated, rapidly realizing who this had to be. If his mother had married Biff, then this voice could only belong to one man…

"You're supposed to be in Switzerland, you little son of a bitch!"

Biff pushed the doors opposite Marty's bed aside and headed inside, allowing Marty to get his first look at the alternate version of Biff Tannen. The bully had changed a lot from how he had been in the original reality, or in the reality Marty had just come from for that matter. Biff Tannen in this world wore a grayish suit, was a lot more aggressive, and just didn't compare to anything Marty had seen in his previous selves.

The forty-eight-year-old stared at Marty. "Did you get kicked out of that boarding school we sent you to? Damn it Lorraine, do you know how much perfectly good dough I've blown on this no good kid of yours? On all three of them?"

"Hell do you care, we can afford it!" Lorraine spit out, as she took a drink and headed into the room Biff had just left, a large room which was cluttered with gold and pink and had it's walls decorated with posters of barely-clad women. Marty looked back at his mother as he followed them out of the room. The forty-seven-year-old woman looked at Biff, depressed. "The least we could do is getting a better life for our children."

Marty's eyes went wide at that statement, given that the 'our' part implied that Biff was his biological father, and he had to admit that he was more than a little relieved when Biff immediately contradicted it. "Let's hold one thing straight," he said, "Marty is your kid, not mine, and not even all the money in the world could do anything for that geek! Look at him. He's insane and you know it, all busy with scientific nonsense and fantasies that will never come true. Just like his old man was."

Lorraine's mood abruptly darkened and she walked towards her husband. "Don't you dare to speak that way about George" she growled. "You're not even half the man he was."

Biff just stared at her for a while, and then pushed her to the ground. Marty used every bit of his self-control not to run out towards him and get even with the bully, but he did allow a: "Leave my mother alone!" to slip out of his mouth.

His 'stepfather' chuckled. "You want me to leave her alone, huh?" he challenged. "Why don't you come down here and push me away, then?"

Marty barely could take this, but somehow, he managed to refrain from walking up and kicking the older man. "I'm not stupid enough to start a fight when I'm out-numbered four to one" he bit back. "I'd push you away if I wasn't sure that I would get a push right back."

Biff chuckled again. "Ah, so you're just a little chicken, aren't you?"

The teenager shook his head. He had learnt himself a long time ago not to react to comments like this. "No, I'm simply not stupid" he replied. Under his breath, he added: "Unlike you."

The bully turned millionaire stared at him for a while, and then turned around. "Let's go boys" he said to his gang members, as they walked up the stairs and exited the room. Before he left, though, Biff turned back to Marty. "You'd better get out of here within two hours, kid" he replied. "Get back to Switzerland. I don't want to see you again before Christmas." With that, he left.

Marty stared after him for a while, then went over to his mother. Lorraine was back at the bar, and taking another drink. She looked up at him, and smiled faintly. "Thank you for defending me" she said, speaking softly.

"It's all right" the teen replied, sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders before looking around, trying to make sense of everything. "What happened, mother? Where is my father? Where is George Douglas McFly?"

Lorraine looked at him, stunned. "Marty," she said, confused, "are you feeling all right? Does your head hurt?"

"A little," Marty admitted, "but that's not the problem. Please tell me where father is."

Lorraine frowned, but she complied. "Marty," she replied, "George… your father is on the same place he's been for the past twelve years!" Saddened, she added: "Oak Park Cemetery."

The teen gasped and almost fell over. "Cemetery?" he repeated, horrified. "You mean… that… he perished?" Lorraine nodded, confused, which caused Marty to start crying. It wasn't much – he never cried too much during states of emotional duress, but he certainly got tears in his eyes as he thought about his ancestor once removed having died. He now remembered both timelines, both before and after he changed history, and he knew that George, while he had been a wimp in the original timeline, had actually been a rather nice person. And even if he hadn't been, his father was still his father, and Marty figured he'd mourn about him no matter what his character had been like. _"We'll, unless it had been like Biff's." _

"Marty?" Lorraine asked, confused. "Are you all right? You've known this for years!" She held him tightly. "They must have hit you over the head hard this time…"

"Mother" Marty responded. "What happened? Why has my father perished?"

Lorraine frowned, even more confused. "You know about that, Marty."

Marty looked at her for a long time, as a possibility popped into his head. His mother obviously thought that he was his local self. But she knew about his temporal field warping and displacement machine. If he told her who he really was… she might be willing to assist him. Such aid would be great for achieving his goal.

However, there was also a possibility that she didn't know. Marty doubted that his other self who was native to this reality had ever gone on a time travelling journey, let alone to 1955. If that was the case, Lorraine should not remember anything happening in 1955, because nothing had ever happened then besides her falling in love with George – no interference from her son, at least. It did make some sense, but the idea wasn't pleasing Marty too much.

Well, he'd just have to try. He certainly couldn't do nothing, and Lorraine was the best aid he was going to get. The teen broke the silence. "Mother?" he asked. "Do you remember… a boy named Clint Eastwood whom you met in 1955?"

Marty saw his mother frown – and to his immense relief, raise her eyebrow in suspicion. It was a brief movement, but it did suggest that Lorraine was on the verge of finding out who he was, which meant that she did remember. She stood up and walked away from the bar for a moment before addressing Marty. "You know that" she replied. "I told you the whole story before, didn't I? Clint Eastwood was the boy who helped your father and I fall in love. You know all about it."

Marty nodded, and stood up as well, walking over to the couches in the centre of the room. "Yes, I know" he replied. "I know how you parked with him in his uncle's car. I know how Biff showed up when he was talking to you and to my father." He suddenly stopped and looked directly into his mother's eyes. "I know what he told you after you had seen him without his 'alien' mask."

Lorraine's eyes went wide, and she stumbled backwards. "Are… you…how…" she managed to bring out.

Marty nodded, smiling mischievously. "It's me, mother… or should I say Lorraine?"

For a single brief moment, Lorraine just remained standing there. Then she ran up to him, hugged him (pushing the two of them over to the couch in the process) and started crying. "I can't believe you're back!" she called out. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long…"

"It's all right, mother" Marty said, patting her on the back. He helped her back in a normal position and they both sat down. "It's all right" he repeated.

"Why are you here?" Lorraine asked, stopping with crying to look into the eyes of the boy she'd, in a sense, last seen thirty years ago. "Did you come to fix history? To bring George back?"

"I certainly did" Marty said, sighing. "Mother, what happened? How could you marry Biff! Even if father died…"

"I'm sorry, Marty" Lorraine replied, staring to the ground in sadness. "I tried to survive on my own. Emmett helped me. But eventually, Biff got him imprisoned and I just couldn't keep up anymore."

"Biff put Emmett in prison?" Marty repeated, horrified.

"You don't know?" Lorraine asked. "How long have you been here? How did you come here, anyway?"

"I'm still not entirely sure" Marty replied. "I returned from 1955 to 1985 this morning. However, it was not this 1985 – it was the right 1985, where you and my father were still happily married. I went to the future as I had been planning, and after spending some time there, I went back to collect Emmett and his wife Jennifer for a visit. We stayed there for just two hours or so, and when we went back, everything changed."

Lorraine frowned. "Then this isn't the way things are supposed to be" she muttered. "I wondered about that, whether you had caused this change. I'm glad that you didn't – but then who did? If you went to the future…"

"That's what I've been wondering, too" Marty confessed. "After bringing Emmett and Jennifer home, I went to the house I lived in in the original timeline, only to find it being inhabited by a black man who talked about BiffCo trying to buy his house. I had never heard of BiffCo and the surroundings were different, so I knew something had to be wrong. I went to the Square, saw the casino and went over to Biff's museum to watch the video they showed in there. When the video arrived at the part of your marriage, I must have overreacted, because Biff's gang showed up and knocked me out."

Lorraine sighed. "I wish Biff would sent those three away from here someday" she muttered. "Living here and missing George is bad enough. Living here while constantly getting annoyed by them…"

"How can you stand this marriage?" Marty asked, shaking his head. "It sounds like a horrifying scenario to me."

"It is" Lorraine admitted. "Biff isn't even loyal, since he cheats on me out in the open wherever he can. I don't even try to protest, because if he's not out with those girls or in the casino, he's with me, and I can't say I prefer that. He's just got this horrible temper, and it's worsened ever since we married. He can't stand anything from me."

"What happened to me?" Marty asked. "Biff talked about me being in Switzerland…"

"You – or I suppose your other self – live in a special boarding school in Switzerland" Lorraine replied. "It's some kind of special education school. Biff selected it, and people with disabilities go there."

Marty frowned. "I thought that I didn't have a disability, not regarding learning at least" he replied. "I skipped several grades in my world, so…"

"It was Biff's choice, as I said" Lorraine muttered. "He thought that you were a strange person, and anything he calls strange, he views as lesser than the ordinary. As such, you were sent to the school. Initially, I thought that Biff was right and that you had been kicked out. You hate the place."

"I don't doubt" Marty replied. "No, I haven't been kicked out. I've come here to fix what Hill Valley has become, and I'm not planning to go away without success."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Once upon a time, there was a movie trilogy called Back to the Future, and there was a boy, and he didn't own the trilogy. **

_Author's Note: New chapter. Interesting things are revealed and research is done. And there's some hope that this mess might be fixed. Somehow. One day. Oh, and Bttf4444, I don't recall if I already mentioned this to you, but didn't you mean 'Clint Eastwood' in your reply? _**  
**

**9: Chapter Nine**

Over the next hour, Lorraine and Marty sat down and talked. They compared histories for as good as they could, with Marty telling his mother all about what the original 1985 was like and about his trip to 2015 which had apparently created this world, and Lorraine told her son all she knew about how Biff had gotten rich. It just confirmed the suspicion that had already been rising in Marty's head – that Biff was behind it. "He has altered history somehow" the teen replied. "I'm not sure how he did it, but he must have. The hints all point towards him. He's the one who's rich and famous. My father, his one great opponent, is dead. There are changes on a world wide scale, but nothing we can't track down and follow back to that one big win Biff made and all those winnings he made afterwards. He must have travelled through time and made himself rich."

Lorraine frowned. "How could that happen?" she asked. "Didn't you have the machine on you all the time?"

"Well, it's hard to stuff a temporal field warping and displacement machine into one's pocket" Marty said, smiling. "And we did talk to Biff briefly, while we were in 2015. Something we said then must have made him suspicious and made him steal the vehicle. It also explains why Jennifer was unconscious. She hadn't fallen asleep, she had been knocked out so Biff could travel through time." He sighed. "Anyway, it doesn't matter too much how it happened. What matters is how we can prevent it."

They kept talking about that issue for the next few minutes, and Marty managed to get a lot of information about any activities that pointed to Biff messing with time out of Lorraine. "He told me a lot about it" she explained. "I suppose he just liked to brag."

Eventually, Marty and Lorraine arrived at a point where they could not solve anything by simple conversation anymore. Marty was insistent on having a look at the library, especially because when questioned about Biff's first win, Lorraine mentioned having seen something weird in the paper that dealt with it. However, the library was closed in this world, which meant, according to Marty, that they'd have to force their way in. While Lorraine wasn't at ease with the idea of breaking into a library, she agreed that if it was for the sake of returning the universe to how it should be, it would have to be done.

Careful to avoid Biff or any of his gang, Marty and Lorraine then headed down the stairs and out through the doors of the Pleasure Paradise. The teenager frowned as he sniffed the air. "This is not clean" he muttered.

"You hadn't noticed that before?" Lorraine asked, as they descended the stairs.

"I think there's enough here to make one worried about other things and not notice things like odd smells" Marty replied. "There's all these bikers and toxic waste plants and… Great Scott, _Emmett_!"

The teen ran over to his friend, who smiled in relief when he saw him. "Marty!" he called out, surprised. "I figured you were here, but not that you would come out of the building and run towards me!"

Marty smiled. "I suppose so" he replied. "I met up with my mother and talked to her a bit. We just decided to head over to the library to track down information about how this world came to be."

"Hi, Emmett" Lorraine said, giving a shy wave. "Marty told me that he had returned from the future to find everything different from how he remembered it. Since this is not a world which I particularly like living in, I volunteered to help him change it."

"Thank you, I suppose" Emmett replied. "So, it's off to the library?"

"Right" Marty said. "My car is parked outside the Square, if it wasn't stolen during the past three hours – with all these, uh, _people_ around, who knows what might have happened. During the ride over, you can tell us about how you found me. And what occurred to Jennifer? Is she still asleep?"

"She should be" Emmett replied. "She was asleep when I left the house." He smiled at the teen. "Marty, I'm glad to see you safe. When I heard about where you had gone, I thought that you might not have come out alive, considering what this place appears to be like."

"How did you hear where I went?" Marty wanted to know.

"Well," Emmett responded, "you see…"

Over their drive to the library in the truck, which had, to Marty's relief, not been stolen, Emmett told Marty and Lorraine all about his adventures. After Marty had left, the sixty-five-year-old had looked around some more and realized that something was seriously wrong. He had collected old papers lying around, the youngest of which reporting to him that the day was January 23rd, 1975. Though this had surprised him, what had surprised him much more was the headline of the paper. It said 'Emmett Brown Imprisoned – Local Ranch Owner Found Guilty of McFly Murder Case'.

"What?" Marty called out, stunned.

"It's true" Lorraine said. "I remember it. You were involved in a large-scale trial all throughout the winter of 1974/75. You were finally found guilty on evidence I could not believe, and thrown into jail for twenty-five years. I've visited your other self a few years ago… he didn't seem to be all that well to me. I wonder whether you're going to last those remaining fifteen years."

"Fourteen years, two months and twenty-eight days" Marty corrected. "Great Scott… what happened to Jennifer?"

"She left town a few months later" Lorraine replied. "Don't feel hurt, Emmett – it's not like she didn't want to be with you. She just couldn't stay anymore. If I had been wise, I'd followed her, but by that point, my financial situation had gone too far and I was convincing myself that a marriage to Biff Tannen _would _be the wiser option." She sighed. "Go on, Emmett."

The horse dealer continued his tale, telling of how he had, after finding the newspaper, gone off to search for Marty. He had felt horribly confused about what had happened, but he'd come to the same conclusion as Marty – that things had changed. He didn't know how, but they had. He had thus gone to Marty's house, found the man Marty had encountered earlier on there, and with aid of people who had seen the teen passing over the past few hours, he had managed to find his way to the square. He'd just arrived, had seen the casino and was pondering what to do when Marty had appeared as well.

Marty then told his friend about what he had found out, and Lorraine chimed in with further information. About his father's murder – something Emmett had already known of course, having read it in the paper which framed him for it, but hearing it from Lorraine and Marty was something else entirely – and about Biff's immense, unexplainable wealth. They had just finished their side of the story when the truck arrived at the library.

As Lorraine had told them, the place was a shadow of what it had once been. It was boarded up and a sign of 'Closed Permanently' hung on the door. Marty, however, took a step back, and as Emmett and Lorraine still wondered what he was doing, he ran towards the door, preparing to hit it as hard as he could and smash through it.

When he did so, he found out that either the place had been shut for a real long time, or the entrance hadn't been that well when it was still working. The door was easily broken, and Marty had to stop himself from falling against a wall behind it. He smiled, blushing a little. "Well, we can go in now" he said, pointing inside.

The library looked even messier from the inside than from the outside. The place was cluttered with papers everywhere, and Marty came to a halt as he walked in, shocked. Emmett echoed his sentiments. "How are we going to find anything in this!" he complained, shaking his head.

"Well, we know the exact date" Marty said, trying to regain his old optimism. "We're looking for the paper of March 27th, 1958. That one details Biff's first win, and it should allow us to get Lorraine's suspicion confirmed or denied."

"What if I was wrong?" his mother asked. "What if there really isn't anything in the paper to help us out?"

"We'll see what we're going to do then when it comes to that" Marty said, smiling. "Let's go now, we've got lots of work to do."

After a minute or two, it turned out that he was right. The papers were cluttered in an absolutely random fashion, as if a tornado had raged right through it. Papers about a certain stock market crash on Wall Street in 1929 were harmoniously located next to Nixon's third term re-election in 1977, the latter of which was something that surprised Marty a lot and once more made clear how much Biff had changed the world. But anyway, the papers weren't exactly in a certain order, and as a result, research had to be done in a way that would take time.

In the end, it was only a quarter before Emmett was the one to find the paper they were looking for. The headline was 'Hill Valley Man Wins Big At Races' and underneath, a smiling picture of Biff was shown. Emmett handed it over to Lorraine, who nodded, recognizing it. "Yeah, this is it" she muttered. "I don't see anything particularly remarkable, though. I don't know…"

Suddenly, she found herself holding a magnifying glass. Marty smiled. "I found it on one of the shelves" he said. "I had figured that it might come to great use in attempting to track down what exactly happened."

Lorraine nodded. "It might indeed." She put the glass closer, and examined the paper as well as she could, holding it in the light so she could see it even better. "Hmm, I still can't find… wait a minute! Marty, can you see what that is?"

Her teenaged son looked over at the spot Lorraine pointed to – something sticking out of Biff's bag. "Not immediately, no" he replied. "Let me have a look." He took the magnifying glass from her. "Oh, yes, I can see it now. It is a book. It says American sports statistics, 1945 to 1995…" As he realized what it meant, his head shot up. "Great Scott!"

"This is heavy!"

Lorraine turned to Marty, frowning at his and Emmett's reaction. "Excuse me, but what is so strange about this? Well, besides the years?"

"We've seen the book before" Marty explained. "In a store in 2015. Emmett wanted to buy it, but I convinced him not to." He sighed. "Now I'm almost wishing I had allowed him to purchase the item. At least then it would not have ended up in Biff's hands."

"At least we're now sure that he stole the time machine" Emmett said. "And that he gave the book to himself in the past. So, we go back to the future, we stop him from stealing the machine…"

Marty stared at him. "Emmett, are you insane? We can not go to the times that have not occurred yet from the world's current perspective! Not now that the timeline as it is now has firmly established itself! We couldn't stop Biff from stealing it as he wouldn't be there!"

Emmett frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If we take the time machine and go back to the time we came from, to 2015, it will be the 2015 of this reality" Marty explained. "It will be the future of this horrible world, and Biff would not have a reason to steal the machine as he would already be rich."

Emmett frowned more. "But isn't that a paradox?" he said.

"Exactly" Marty said. "That's why one thing we should avoid above all is going back to 2015. We can not go there as we might end up being caught in the end of the space-time continuum. And I'm determined not to see that occur, not when there's a way to stop it."

"But didn't you just come from 2015?" Lorraine asked. "If you came from the 2015 as you say it should be, shouldn't you also be able to go back?" Emmett nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure why, but it is quite certain for me that that is not the case" Marty said. "We departed 2015 after Biff had taken the time machine back into time. So we should have been in the alternate 2015, and thus in the paradox. But though we saw things beginning to alter around us, as I now realize they were, we remembered them being different before, something we shouldn't, since we were not involved in Biff's change. I speculate that the reason was that we were in the times that have yet to come instead of our home time, and that this gives us some form of immunity to changes wrought by time travelling."

"Now this makes my head hurt" Emmett complained.

"I suppose so" Marty replied. "It is a little confusing, I admit, especially at such a late hour. I am not sure I understand it myself."

Emmett then had a thought. "Marty, you said that we had taken the time machine back after Biff had gone off with it, right?"

"That's correct" Marty replied. "Why?"

In response, Emmett started to beam. "In that case, I know where he went" he said. As he got surprised and even doubting looks from his friends, he explained: "Remember that strange departure time we saw? How we thought that it was some kind of error? Well, it wasn't. It was the date Biff had just come from."

For a moment, Marty felt happy that Emmett had solved the mystery, and even proud of his best friend. Then, he suddenly got a shock, as he remembered what the date had been. "Emmett, do you know what this means?"

"Uh… that we can go there?"

"It means that Biff travelled to November 12th, 1955!"

Emmett gasped. "That was the day you travelled back to 1985!"

"Exactly" Marty agreed. "That means that if we were to go there to retrieve the sports book, there will be two versions of each of us. That is a situation I'm not particularly looking forwards to… even if it does give you the trip to 1955 you wanted to go on, Emmett."

"Yeah – but it's more like one positive thing with a hundred bad things" Emmett replied, sighing.

Marty nodded, and started to pace around. "We're going to have to handle the situation with care, if we want to avoid altering history – our own history – even more" he muttered. "As a result, this information we have will not suffice."

"What do you suggest?" Lorraine asked.

"I suggest that we go to the source" Marty said. "Ask Biff himself. Ask him to tell us exactly how, where and at what time of day he got the book."

"Marty, are you insane?" Emmett asked. "That's just stupid! There's no way Biff is ever going to tell you that! It would destroy everything he's done in the past thirty years! He'd be insane to do that! Uh, not that Biff isn't a little crazy, but…"

"I understand" Marty said. "I was thinking about that myself as I came up with the idea. We do have a big advantage in that he doesn't know what we need the information for, but besides that…"

"I'll ask him" Lorraine said.

"What?" Marty exclaimed. "Mother, I can not request this from you!"

"I'll help you two" Lorraine said. "If you're going to fix the world and bring George back, I should give you every bit of help you need. I've been married to Biff for ten years now, so I should be able to get it out of him with little to no trouble."

Marty frowned. "Mother, if you're doing this to gain a position in the time vehicle when we go back to 1955, then I must disappoint you. We can not take you along, considering the fact that you are native to this world. You must change along with the world around you to get the you back that should have been."

If Lorraine was disappointed, she didn't show it. "I suppose I understand" she nodded. "But that's not why I'm doing it. I want to help, Marty. This is as important to me as it is to you." She allowed herself to have a slight smile, as she saw Marty being convinced by her arguments. She stuck out her hand. "Do we have an agreement?"

Marty looked at her. She might be his mother and he did not want Biff to hurt her, but as usual, his scientific side took precedence. Free help had been offered, help that would, as Lorraine had pointed out, be useful and much more capable of wriggling information out of Biff Tannen than any of them, and he'd be stupid to turn it down. He nodded, slowly, accepting the hand she was offering. "We have an agreement."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: If you could arrange it so I own the Back to the Future trilogy, it would be great. Until then, though, I have to admit that I do not own it, and that all rights to the characters in here belong to Universal Studios, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Michael J. Fox, Thomas F. Wilson, and probably a lot more people. **

_Author's Note: New chapter for RTT. Information is won, stairs are climbed and guns are fired. Final chapter for 1985A, so after this, we're off to the fifties! _

**10: Chapter Ten**

Despite the fact that Emmett strongly disapproved of what Marty was letting his mother do, he finally agreed to the teen's arguments. Indeed, it was important that the time-continuum would be restored to how it should be, and this did appear to be the smartest way of handling it. "I just hope you know what you're doing" he muttered, darkly.

The next hour was spent in preparation, talking about what Lorraine should ask Biff and how she should approach him about the issue. Marty did get faintly uneasy around some of his mother's suggestions, feeling horrible about how she had gotten used to Biff making advances on her in this world and being tempted to blame himself for the changes. Finally, they left the library around half past two in the early night/morning of October 27th, 1985, and flew over to the Pleasure Paradise in the truck.

Though Lorraine was going to do all of the 'work', as she preferred calling it, Marty and Emmett insisted on being present to ensure that nothing would happen. As a result, they had to wait a while more. Biff was still in his Jacuzzi, watching a Clint Eastwood movie (how appropriate, considering the fact Marty had used that alias in 1955, which he was now once again headed to) with two girls, and they could not sneak in unnoticed while he was also present. They'd have to wait until Biff was out of the room, get in, and then wait for Lorraine to bring Biff back to have a 'talk'.

In the end, it ended up taking another hour before Biff and the girls were finished watching the movie. Marty complained about it, explaining that the risk of erasure and complete replacement by their local selves, which had been minimal at first, was growing with the second. He felt insecure about being in the alternate world, and hoped that they could work on removing it from existence as soon as possible.

Eventually, as the clock had just chimed 3:30, Lorraine spotted Biff's 'Jacuzzi girls' leave the room. Biff left a moment later, and Marty and Emmett sneaked in right after he did so. When Biff came back, though, he was not accompanied by Lorraine. Marty was just about to point out the strangeness of that when his mother did enter. "Goodnight, Biff" she said, as charming as she could.

Biff frowned, but a pleased smile on his face told his true feelings about the matter. "Why, Lorraine" he said. "Hadn't expected you to be here."

Lorraine shrugged. "I was bored, and I thought, let's see what my husband is up to" she replied, putting a mild emphasis on the word 'husband'. "What have you been doing?"

"Watching a movie with some girls" Biff replied, neutrally. "Standard evening, actually. Now, I was just going to work again." He sat down on the chair in his 'office'. "What about you?"

Lorraine shrugged again. "I was just drinking a bit, and since I had nothing to do, I decided to go to the museum to watch some of their videos" she replied. "When I was there, though, I found something weird." She smiled, taking out the newspaper they had found in the library. "It's probably nothing, but… what is it you have in your bag there?"

Biff took the paper from her, looked at the bag, and his eyes widened. "Uh, nothing" he replied, clearly nervous. "Nothing major. It probably wouldn't interest you. I can't even remember what it is."

Lorraine frowned. "Ah, come on, Biff" she said. "You'd remember something like that. It's so weird, it looks like it says '1945 – 1995'… you really don't know?"

Biff looked at her, appearing a bit unsure. "I'm not sure whether I can tell you…"

"Of course you can" Lorraine said, sounding as flirtatious as she could. She went over to him, and quite surprising both Biff and her friends hidden behind the curtains, she sat down on his lap and ran her hand through his hair. "Surely you can tell me, can't you?"

Behind the curtains, Marty let out a sigh. "Great Scott, she has to be a great actress or really determined" he muttered. "I do _not_ want to consider the alternatives."

Emmett nodded, understanding what he meant. "Yeah, she sounds pretty convincing."

Apparently, Biff thought so, too, because, after giving Lorraine a kiss, he sighed. "All right, I'll tell you" he said. "It is a sports book which allows me to predict any sports event's outcome, since they're all in there. With it, I have managed to not lose a single one of all my bets."

Lorraine stood up, feigning shock. "You mean you've been… cheating all the time!"

"It's not cheating" Biff reassured her. "It may not be as much luck as other people think it is, but it was through pure good luck that I managed to come into possession of the book."

Lorraine pondered that, then nodded, sitting back down. "Yes, when you put it that way, it isn't really that different" she said. "And you only did what just about everyone would do." Then, trying to appear like she was only mildly interested, she added: "How did you get the book, then? If it was so much luck… did it, like, fall out of the sky one day?"

Biff grinned. "No, that wasn't it" he responded. "You know, it all happened on November 12th, 1955."

"The day of the Enchantment under the Sea Dance?" Lorraine said.

Biff scowled briefly, then nodded. "Yes, that's the one. I was just heading to pick up my car from the damage Clint Eastwood had caused to it a few days before – I managed to get it just in time for the dance, as it was already late in the afternoon and the shop would close soon afterwards. So, anyway, I picked it up, and intended to drive home with it when some old codger with a cane showed up. He said he was my distant relative – I didn't see any resemblance. He asked me if I'd like to be rich. When I said yes, he gave me the book." He motioned for Lorraine to rise and then stood up himself and took away a painting behind him, revealing a safe. The bully opened the safe and took out a smaller box, which he opened as well. He took the sports book out of it and handed it to Lorraine. "This is it. So, anyway, I didn't believe him at first, but he showed me proof and told me to keep it a secret."

Lorraine nodded as Biff took the book from her again and put it back into it's old place. "I see" she said, thoughtfully. "What time was that? I mean, if you were on such a tight schedule to get to the dance…"

"It wasn't quite _that_ tight" Biff responded. "I still had an hour or two to go when the old man left. I believe I was supposed to pick my car up at 5:30, and the old man showed up not soon after. We drove back home together, and he finally left my house when it was around 6:15 P.M., I believe. It was just two more hours to go to the dance, then."

In their hiding spot, Marty suddenly began to sniff. "What's going on?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know" Marty admitted. "I think there's some… HA… dust in here… HA…"

In the main room, Lorraine nodded. "Well, thank you for the information" she said, standing up again.

"My pleasure" Biff said, even though he seemed a little disappointed. "Why don't you stay here for a while? We can watch a movie in the Jacuzzi."

"You're not going to sneeze, are you?" Emmett asked Marty, horrified. "You have to stop that!"

Marty stared at him. "Do you… HA… think I don't… HA…. know that?" he replied.

Lorraine shook her head at Biff's proposal. "No, I think I'm going to have to decline" she said. "I've got some other things I wanted to attend. I wanted to visit Dave tonight, too."

"Ah, I see" Biff said, though he obviously wasn't happy with it. "Well, good night then."

"Good night" Lorraine said, smiling, as she began to walk off.

Behind the curtain, Marty smiled relieved. "I think it's stopped, Emmett…"

"AHCHOO!"

Biff looked up alarmed. "What was that!"

Lorraine smiled innocently. "Uh, probably nothing…"

"It sneezed quite hard for being nothing!" Biff responded. He took out a gun and walked over to the curtain, and pulled it aside.

"Uh… the weather is quite nice outside today, isn't it?" Emmett said, for lack of anything better."

"YOU!" Biff called out.

"Marty, Emmett, run!" Lorraine shouted.

What occurred in the seconds afterwards, would later appear to the participants like it all happened at once. Biff, stunned, realized what must have been going on and shot towards Lorraine, a bullet she narrowly managed to avoid. After that, she jumped behind a chair, giving her relative safety but allowing Biff to focus on the others. Marty and Emmett decided that Lorraine was right and ran for their lives, Biff following them.

"Where to?" Emmett asked, as they exited through the doors.

"To the elevator – oh Great Scott!" Marty called out as the doors of the lift opened and Biff's gang came out, who promptly set off in pursuit once they saw who were there. "Great, now there's four people chasing us."

"To the stairs" Emmett said. Marty nodded, and they went inside. The stairs in Biff's Pleasure Paradise were the average stair-case you'd expect of a building like this, running down and up. To Emmett's surprise, Marty went down. "I thought we hid the machine up…" he muttered, as they ran down the stairs.

"Trust me" Marty replied. He jumped across the staircase and went onto another that went the opposite way. Confused, Emmett followed him. Biff's gang went past them a moment later, cheering and yelling, and the sixty-five-year-old now figured out what Marty was doing. He smiled as the teen jumped back and both of them went up to the roof.

"I have to say that was a clever trick you had there" he said, as they exited the building and walked over to the time machine. "I was kind of wondering what you were doing, but I eventually figured out." He smirked. "Too bad for them that they didn't."

"Yes, I had to think of something, and this was to be the best idea I could work out in such a short period of time" Marty said, shrugging. "At least we're now safe and sound."

"Really?"

Both jumped at the sound of Biff's voice behind them. "If you thought I was going to fall for that, you're more stupid than I thought you were" he informed them. "You even forgot to shut the door behind you when you went off. I don't know how you got that car here, but get away from it."

Marty and Emmett exchanged glances, but finally complied. Biff smirked. "Now, wasn't that easy?" he said, grinning evilly. "Now all that is left for me is thinking up just how exactly I'm going to depose of you."

"You can't just depose of us like this" Emmett pointed out. "What about the police? They will match up the bullets with that gun."

Biff shook his head. "In case you hadn't noticed yet, lunatic, I _own_ the police" he bragged. "And besides – they couldn't match up the bullet with which I killed the kid's old man."

"WHAT?" Emmett exclaimed, horrified.

"You descendant one generation removed of a rather nasty woman!" Marty cursed.

"Well, it does make sense to me" Biff shrugged, as he raised his gun at Marty and slowly started pulling the trigger. "Suppose it's poetic justice. Two McFly's with the same…"

BANG!

Marty and Emmett blinked as Biff suddenly winced, let out a short scream and collapsed in front of them. As he fell down, they could see that behind him was a shaking Lorraine holding a gun – although neither of them could deduce whether she was shaking with horror or anger. Perhaps a little of both. "Even though he wanted to kill you, I probably shouldn't have solved it this way," she said, almost blushing, "but considering what he was saying about George…"

"You never thought that?" Marty said. "I mean, I was surprised too, but I did have my suspicions from the start."

Lorraine shrugged. "I guess that I thought he wouldn't be capable of going that low" she muttered, quietly. "Although, considering what I just did…"

"I don't think you can be blamed for it" Emmett said. "It is wrong to kill a person, but this version of Biff Tannen…" He shuddered. "Well, I don't think it's that bad."

"What is wisdom indeed" Marty said, thoughtfully. He then looked at Lorraine, regaining some of his former stoicism. "Do you mind going on a short ride?"

Lorraine frowned, confused. "I thought you were saying that I shouldn't come along?"

"I'm not taking you along, I'm just removing you from the Pleasure Paradise" Marty explained. "That way, when it will be found out that Biff was killed, you'll have an alibi, since the time machine moves quite fast and it will be hard to figure out exactly when he," Marty pointed at the now lifeless body in front of them, "was murdered."

"I thought we were going to erase this world?" Emmett said, frowning.

"In principle, we are" Marty said. "Can't hurt to take some precautions, though. Even if our timeline might be restored, there is a possibility that this timeline continues somewhere. I don't think it's the most realistic possibility, but it is one."

"Smart thinking, Marty" Lorraine complimented. "In that case, taking me to the supermarket two miles from here would be okay. I frequently go there, as it's the only place that still sells decent food."

"Won't that seem weird in the middle of the night?" Emmett asked, confused. "I never go to a shop around that time."

"From what I've seen in this world, I've deduced that the normal biological night/day pattern is largely removed for the city of Hill Valley" Marty replied. "In some cases, it might even be reversed. Considering the size of the nightlife of this world, I suppose that it might be seen as a valid reason."

"You're right" Lorraine said. "It has indeed been reversed, though it's mostly youth and criminals that are awake at night and sleep in the day. The other people – well, what's left of them – go out during the normal hours. But given that I'm known as Biff Tannen's wife…" She shrugged. "It would probably be a decent excuse."

Deciding to cut short their conversation because time was of the essence, Marty nodded, and he and Emmett then got into the truck. Lorraine also stepped in, and the time machine flew over to the shop. After a 'goodbye', and 'good luck', Lorraine exited, and Marty took the truck up to the sky.

"All right, temporal circuitry on" he muttered to himself. "Destination Time: November 12th, 1955… Biff said that it was in the late afternoon, something around 5:30, but we'll have to find a place to hide the machine and walk uptown from there, and a bit of spare time would be convenient… let's aim for 4 P.M."

"Temporal circuitry on?" Emmett repeated. "Marty, you're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?"

"And what might that be?" the teenager replied.

"Are you going back now?" Emmett said, horrified. "What about Jennifer! We can't just leave her here!"

"Do not worry, Emmett" Marty reassured his friend. "Once we depart this world and alter it, removing the presence of the sports book from the timeline, the world should be largely restored to how we remember it. It's like how we were in the future when this world came to be, and we weren't affected."

"I thought you said that was different" Emmett replied. "You know? You said that was changing around us because we were out of our own time. Jennifer is in 1985 as usual."

"That's even better" Marty said. "Jennifer is in her home time, so she'll change along and have no memory of this horrible place. If she even has had one, since she was asleep when you left her, but anyway, if she has a memory of this timeline, it should be erased."

"But you just took your mother away from the Pleasure Paradise for exactly the opposite reasons" Emmett pointed out. "Because the timeline might stay, and then she would also stay… right?"

Marty considered that. "Right" he finally said. "However, if this world continues to exist somewhere, it doesn't automatically mean that there is no version of her in the good world. Or at least, what we consider to be the good world."

"Care to explain that in an understandable way?" Emmett said, confused.

Marty tried. "If we went back and changed history back to the way we remember it and this world continues to exist, there would be two versions of history, right? One of the Hill Valley we know, and one of Hell Valley – this place."

"Right" Emmett said.

"However, it means that there are also two versions of everyone alive" Marty said. "It would be quite strange to arrive in an empty world because everyone else would be in this world. That wouldn't make sense, too, as it would require a point where the persons of this reality became the sole people around and the persons of our reality vanished. Still with me so far?"

"…right" Emmett said, though a lot more hesitant than before.

"So, that means that there must also be two versions of my mother" Marty said. "The one I know, and this one, the female individual we just spoke to and who just killed Biff. That's why I helped her, because she would, if that situation occurred, still exist. However, it would also mean that there would be two versions of Jennifer. One native to this world, and one to the other world. Since the Jennifer we just brought along is not native to this world and there's already another her around here, wherever she might be, the reasonable outcome is that our Jennifer would vanish or be merged with the Jennifer from the restored Hill Valley, and as a result, when we arrive back in the good future, you will encounter a Jennifer, and it will be the Jennifer you have always known and loved. At most, the last few hours will be different, but that's the largest divergence you could encounter."

For a long time, Emmett was silent. Then, he quietly muttered: "Well, you're the Doc, Marty."

"Not yet" Marty reminded him. "But don't worry about Jennifer. Everything will be fine."

"Yeah, right – but tell me one more thing" Emmett insisted. "You keep saying that her memories will be erased or she will be merged with a nearly identical version of her if this world changes back to how it's supposed to be – but what if we don't succeed?"

Marty gave him a firm look. "We _must_ succeed."

And with that, they departed the year 1985 – both of them being blissfully unaware that it would take a long time before they'd ever see their own time period again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning the BTTF movies. Anything at all. I kind of figured you'd like to have that in writing, and here it is. **

_Author's Note: New chapter for the story. __We're back in 1955, and Marty promptly ends up in trouble. _**  
**

**11: Chapter Eleven**

While they had taken as many preparations as they thought they could have, there was one thing Marty and Emmett found upon their arrival in 1955 that they hadn't counted on – the abrupt change of the night sky to bright sunlight. Sure, Marty had known, but he hadn't thought about the possibility, and as a result, the sky turning bright in a heartbeat took both of them by surprise. Emmett let out a scream, while Marty's reaction, though lesser in scale, was bigger in impact: he let go of the steering wheel.

Without control, the truck rapidly began to dive to the ground. Marty, seeing what the vehicle was going to do, tried to get the wheel back up right again, but it wasn't after hitting a billboard of some sorts that they finally landed more or less safely on the ground. "Great Scott" the teen whispered.

"This is heavy" Emmett agreed, then frowning as he noticed a faint buzzing sound. "What's that?"

Marty looked at the time circuits, and sighed. "Oh, great" he muttered. "Another problem. The Destination Time has changed to January 1st, 1885 at midnight."

"Can't you just change it back?" Emmett asked.

Marty started fiddling with the circuitry, trying to type in the old date, but not getting any results. Finally, he decided to just hit it. That worked, and the old date and time were restored, but didn't appear to be quite steady. "That looks like a glitch" the teen muttered. "It must have been caused by the run-in with that billboard. I'll see what I can do about it later." Changing the subject, he started looking around. "That said, where are we?"

"Didn't you recognize the surroundings?" Emmett said, smiling faintly. "I saw some of the writing on the billboard we hit when we went past. We're at Lyon Estates."

Marty's eyes went wide, and he leaned back in his chair. "Great Scott" he whispered. "Now that's bringing back memories. It's just so strange to think I visited this day a short time ago." He opened the door. "Well, no time to lose. Let's start with the plan."

"What is the plan?" Emmett asked.

"I go uptown," Marty explained as he walked up to the trunk, "and track down Biff's younger self. Some time today, his older self will appear and cede younger Biff the sports book. I know it will be at the car repair shop, so all I have to do is head there and wait for older Biff's arrival. I wait until Biff's older self has gone, and then attempt to take the book away from him." He opened the trunk and looked over the items inside, then turned back to his friend. "You, Emmett, stay here and guard the time machine. In no situation must you go uptown without my explicit permission."

"Permission?" Emmett repeated. "Marty, I'm not a little child anymore."

"Very true" Marty said. "But it's too dangerous. We can't allow such an event to happen. You might meet up with my younger self, or worse, your own."

"Our younger selves?" Emmett said, confused. "You mean, like in 2015?"

"Exactly, but now the other way round" Marty said. "As you probably remember, November 12th was the day I departed from 1955 and went back to 1985. Since that event does not occur until 10:04 P.M. tonight, I shall be around until then. You are also there, as you lived through this time period once before. As a result, you will have to stay here and wait."

"That doesn't sound very exciting" Emmett said. "Kind of dull, if you ask me."

"Well, here's a walkie-talkie, so we can keep in contact with each other" Marty said, fetching the item and handing it to his friend. "And if you really want something to do, you should read in those papers you brought along. What did you take again?"

Emmett looked inside the trunk and retrieved them. "A paper from 1973 about your father's murder – you might want to have a look at that yourself – and one from 1975 about me being jailed. I had one from 1958 about Biff's first win, but your mother took it with her and she didn't return it to me. Then, there's also the one from 1968, which had a circle around the date you were born in the birth announcements 'section'." He smiled, handing the '1973' paper over to his friend. "Looks like the other me was anxiously waiting for you to arrive."

"It might sound a little immodest, but under the circumstances, I don't doubt it" Marty said, searching through the back of the car. "Now, where is… ah!" He pulled out a suitcase and opened it, revealing enormous quantities of money of various time periods, going from 1861 to 2053.

"Holy shit!" Emmett exclaimed. "That's a lot of money… where did you get that?" He frowned. "And why doesn't it go past 2053? I thought you travelled to the early twenty-second Century."

"I got it at various antique stores in the future" Marty said, shrugging. "Some from buying it there, and some from trading in my own 'antiques' for future money. There should be at least 250 dollars for each time period, and some have more. I think I've got a stack for each decade, and some even have two. I think I'm pretty well covered regarding money, don't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose" Emmett muttered, stunned. "But what about the limit in 2053?"

"It was the last year non-scriptural money was made" Marty explained. "After that, it was just too expensive to keep up with and considering the popularity of thumb-payment, nobody was using it anymore. I couldn't go past the year without revealing my identity, but luckily, by that time, advances were possible in rejuvenation techniques that allowed a man the age I would supposedly be – 85 – look like I do now. Even though, I still had to be careful."

"Amazing" Emmett marveled. "So, you're off now?"

"Right" Marty said, taking a few bills from the stack labeled '1951' and putting it in his pocket. "You wait here, and remember, don't let anybody steal it. We don't want to risk a repeat of the situation we're here to fix."

"Yeah, right, of course" Emmett said, waving at his friend as he ran off. "Good luck!"

oooooooo

It didn't take all that long to find the car repair shop – at least, the actual search did not take long. Gawking around at the sights he had just seen a day ago did, and Marty had to scold himself when he finally arrived at the shop at half past five. The teen hid behind a tree, and leaned back to wait for Biff to arrive.

He didn't have to wait long. Within a few minutes, an annoyed but very familiar young man came walking up to the store. Marty waited as patient as he could as Biff went in, and then spotted a familiar figure on the other side of the road. Biff's older self was hobbling through the street, looking around with satisfaction. Marty wanted to hit himself as he was confronted with how easy it had been for Biff to steal the time machine. Well, at least now they knew for sure that it had been him who had done so.

Old Biff leaned against the wall, waiting like Marty was for young Biff to come out. As it took some time, the teen sat down and began to read a little in the newspaper about his father's murder – it did depress him, but the other subjects the paper talked about were fine. Biff, like Marty, was a little bored, and showed it by reading as well. In his case, it was in the sports book he had brought along from 2015.

After some twenty minutes waiting, they finally heard the sound of a familiar engine driving out of the garage. Marty looked up from his paper, and was just in time to see Old Biff react as well. He took his cane and hobbled towards Biff, calling out towards him. "Hey!"

Biff looked at him, suspicious. "What do you want, old man?"

"There is something I need to talk about with you" Old Biff replied. "Something that will make you rich."

Biff frowned and let out a chuckle. "You? Make me rich? In your dreams perhaps. Look, I don't have time for this. I need to prepare for the big dance tonight."

"This is more important" his older self insisted. "Listen, why don't you just let me in, drive home as you intend to, and we'll talk about it on the way there? Now that won't cost you any time at all."

In the meantime, as the Biff's were distracted, Marty carefully began to cross the road. He didn't want them to leave without him. That sports book was not going to stay with Biff Tannen even if his life depended on it.

Biff looked back at his older self for a moment. "How do I know you're not just some strange nutcase who wants a ride?"

Old Biff remained untouched by the insults. "I'm not a strange nutcase. We're related, Biff, and that's why I'm going to give this thing to you and not to somebody else."

"We? Related?" Biff laughed. "You don't even look like me."

Both Old Biff and Marty could barely conceal their laughter. "You're date of birth is March 26th, 1937" the older man started summing up. "Your favorite hobby is bullying George McFly, whom you tell to make your homework. In ninth grade, you dated your first girlfriend whom you met after going to a club in Grass Valley, had a relationship for three weeks with her, and her name was…"

"Enough" Biff said, a bit shaken. "All right, you can come in."

Old Biff nodded, and went into the car. Marty, who had sneaked up close to the car, took advantage of the two of them being distracted and went inside. He smiled as the car took off towards Biff's house.

Biff's older self turned out to be a nuisance for his younger counterpart. Ever interested in where they were going and fascinated by being inside the old car, he kept looking around the car, once even pushing Biff out of the way to do so. That had earned him a firm push back, and though angry, the older man had refrained from trying anything anywhere near the car's controls from then on.

After about ten minutes, Biff pulled up in front of his house and went into his garage. "I thought you wanted to talk" he said. "You haven't said much yet. If you're going to stay that way, I'm leaving. I've got a dance to attend tonight."

"It's only six P.M." Old Biff insisted. "You have more than enough time, and I wanted to get to a nice quiet place first before talking. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, Biff, and you'd better not miss it."

Biff rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah right, like you were going to give me anything useful." His old skepticism had been restored, and it was clear that he wasn't going to believe anything his older self would say very soon.

"I _am_ giving you something useful" Old Biff said, taking the sports book out of the bag. Marty winced as he looked at it. How easy could it have been to avoid this mess if he'd just let Emmett buy the book. Of course, that wouldn't solve everything either. The book could still bring problems, and there could have been another copy for Old Biff to buy. They shouldn't have had the conversation in the first place.

Biff frowned at the book. "What's that book supposed to be?"

"It's from the future" his older self told him. "This book was printed in the year 1996. It tells the outcome of every major sports event that occurs from now until 1995. Means you have forty years to use it, and use it good. I have it, and I'm giving it to you."

Biff chuckled. "Yeah right, now that's something." He took the book. "Very nice present. Now, why don't you make like a tree, and get out of here."

That earned him a slap against the back of his head. "It's leave, you idiot!" Old Biff exclaimed. "Make like a tree, and leave! You sound like a fool when you say it wrong."

"All right then, leave!" Biff said, throwing the sports book towards him. "And take your book with you."

Old Biff stared at him. "You still don't believe me, do you now?"

"What gave it away?" Biff said, chuckling.

"In that case, I'll show you something" Old Biff said. He reached out to the radio, and started twisting channels. After a few moments, he reached a sports channel. "And today, the results of our baseball games, all throughout the country" the channel announced. It then started to list scores. Old Biff searched the correct pages in the book, and then handed it over. Marty didn't need to peek over his nemesis' shoulder to see that they were right every single time.

"You probably wrote it all down somewhere just a few hours ago" Biff said, though he was beginning to doubt his own words. "I mean, it's just not possible…"

"Do you think that I can make such a book that fast?" Old Biff said, shaking his head. "It's not like I'm charging money for it or something like that. I get nothing out of the deal. You get the book for free. Why don't you check it tonight and tomorrow on the scores of that time and see what they are? If it's wrong, you could always throw it away."

Biff now seriously began to believe the story. "But… how?" he asked, stunned. "Why? Why me?"

"That's none of your business" Old Biff said, probably a bit rougher than intended. "Just keep the book."

Biff nodded. "Okay," he muttered, "I'll take a look at it."

With that, he threw it into the trunk of the car.

It took every bit of Marty's self control and of Old Biff seizing it immediately for him not to grab the opportunity. The sports book was so close, but he knew he didn't dare to take it now. Not with Biff's older self still around. Sighing with relief that he hadn't been spotted, he looked up as Old Biff and Biff were walking out of the garage and discussing the content of the sports book.

As Biff then suddenly found the book in his pocket, Marty began to realize something. Biff might not simply close the garage door, he might also lock it. Suddenly panicking, the teen got up, but it was too late to flee already. A moment later, the door was shut. It was locked within the next five seconds.

The teen got over and tried to open the door by smashing through it, but his strength had never been quite optimal and the door wasn't really friendly either. It remained shut, and after a few desperate tries, Marty began to look for other ways to escape.

However, after roughly ten minutes to a quarter wasted/spent trying to look for ways to open the lock, alternative manners of escape (there was a window, but it was too high and probably too small even for a person his size) in his typical do not-disturb-anything fashion, he began to realize that he was trapped. He considered staying the garage briefly, because he didn't dare to risk messing with history which might happen if he broke the lock, but abandoned that thought – whatever could happen here could never be worse than the world staying like Biff's ideal dream of it forever. However, even with everything he could assemble from the garage and use against it, the lock turned out a bit too solid to break, and Marty had to go back to other means of escape.

He soon concluded that just shouting 'help' was no option. The nearest persons were Biff's grandma and Biff himself, and the former probably had no walking capacity, at least not this far, and would demand an explanation, while Biff would just be angry at the guy who ruined his car now also sneaking into his garage, and would beat him up. No, there was only one way out: Emmett Lathrop Brown.

Sighing, Marty finally took his walkie-talkie. "Emmett?" he asked.

"Marty!" Emmett's voice sounded a split second later. "What's the matter? Where are you?"

"I'm afraid that a little accident caused me to be locked up in the Tannen garage" Marty said. "You're going to have to come over and free me somehow. I'm at 1809 Mason Street."

"Great!" Emmett enthusiastically replied. "Uh, sorry, Marty. Didn't mean it that way. It's just that reading the same papers over and over gets a little boring. I'll fly the truck over right away."

"You can't take the truck" Marty insisted. "It is too dangerous. It's daylight, after all, and we don't want anybody to spot you. Plus, you don't know how to fly a car."

"I could probably pick up the skills soon enough" Emmett said. "I'm not going to walk the entire way, though. You know how many miles that is?"

"Two" Marty replied. "I went on the same path just a short while ago, remember?"

"Yeah, right" Emmett said. "I'm still taking the truck, just not into the sky. Would that be fine with you?"

"People might still see it" Marty insisted.

"So what?" Emmett said. "It's not like they haven't seen your truck before. I remember you driving around with it all the time when you were in 1955… I mean, this past week. Gee, this is confusing!"

"I can imagine" Marty said, not capable of resisting a little smile. "Listen, Emmett. If you really want to take the truck, I suppose I can't stop you, but draw as little attention to yourself as possible, all right? We have enough to worry about."

"Okay!" Emmett replied, cheerfully. He then cut off the connection, leaving Marty to sigh, lean back in Biff's car's front seat, and hope for the best.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: To own or not to own, that is the question. And I do not own. This is about the BTTF trilogy, in case you were wondering. **

_Author's Note: New chapter. Emmett has fun in the Square. Biff has fun with the sports book. Marty has no fun in Biff's garage. Things can't go well for everyone, I suppose. _**  
**

**12: Chapter Twelve**

Emmett Brown was absolutely amazed. He knew what Hill Valley looked like, of course – he'd grown up in the town. He also knew what it had looked like in the 1950s. It was a quiet little town back then, even though the square was relatively busy. Over the years, it had all changed. Seeing it back again was quite a shock, and he had to remind himself where he was a few times just so he'd not hit a passer-by.

As he passed the Courthouse, he saw a very familiar person standing near the clock. As he looked closer, he could see it was no one else than him – or at least, his younger self. Despite the fact that he was looking at himself from the back, he could see the resemblance clearly, and recognized the shirt he had once worn. The sixty-five-year-old gasped, and rapidly sped up to avoid being seen. Past Emmett seemed to startle for a moment at the sound of the car engine, but fortunately, he didn't look around.

A moment later, though, the older Emmett's curiosity got the better of him. Sure, he was forbidden to have a friendly chat with his younger self – Marty had stated that quite clearly, and though he hadn't mentioned it, he must have taken a while to come to the decision that yes, he should call his friend to come over, because it would risk him running into Emmett of the 1950s. But hey, he'd already avoided a direct confrontation! He needed some reward for that. And this was simply too fascinating to pass up. After parking the truck a few dozen yards past the Courthouse and locking it, he crept back into the square, hiding behind a tree.

Past Emmett was doing little more in terms of productivity than his future self was – he was looking at the wires Marty had tied up at the lamp post. He had a radio on him, which he turned on after a few moments.

Though listening to the weather news was interesting, it was no news to Emmett as he'd already done it before. It was surprising, all things considered, how quick he got bored of what should have been an incredibly thrilling event. He was just about to go back to the truck when that exact same car came into the street from another direction.

Past Marty stepped out, and walked over to Past Emmett. For a few moments, neither of them said anything. Then, the Courthouse clock chimed 7. It was an awkward experience for the older version of the horse dealer, who hadn't heard the clock chime for almost thirty years.

"Just three more hours" his own voice then came from the lamp post. "Are you feeling all right still? You know that you'll have to face a lot of things tonight. I certainly don't envy you."

Past Marty shrugged, and talked something about not looking forward to it and his anxiety to return to 1985. That prompted a reply from Past Emmett about Marty's initial fascination with time travel, and Emmett thought that he could understand his friend's younger self better now that he was getting the chance to travel through time for himself. Already, he was thinking of his horses more than usual. Of course, there was also the fact that Jennifer had been left behind in 1985. Perhaps he was, despite all his dreams of being a cowboy, more attached to the 1980s than he thought he was.

After a few moments, the conversation turned to the issue of Marty writing a letter, and Emmett had to wince. He now deeply regretted how stubborn he had been about not letting Marty tell him anything about his future. Of course, that didn't mean he had to go entirely the other way either – look at what was happening now with that sports book! Emmett sighed. There was simply no easy way to get around this issue.

As he saw Past Marty leave, the sixty-five-year-old was unpleasantly reminded of the fact that he still needed to rescue his own Marty. Sighing, he cast a final look at the scene. His younger self was sitting down, inspecting Marty's work again, and Past Marty was…

For a moment, the horse dealer froze. Past Marty was headed towards Lou's Café. How long had it been since he had actually seen that café? He chuckled, not in amusement but more in amazement. If only he could go inside…

Of course, he could. He could just wait until Marty got back out again – his memory told him that it wouldn't be long – and go inside, looking around for a while. The truck was locked, and it would probably not take that long. He wasn't really looking forwards to trying to force the garage door Marty was trapped behind open, anyway. This was much more… interesting. Cautiously, he began to sneak towards the café, certain that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be gone for long.

oooooooo

Around an hour later, probably more, Emmett was rapidly heading over to the Tannen home. While doing so, he was muttering all sorts of things to himself about his laziness. Why couldn't he have hurried some more? He hadn't got the entire day! Marty was going to be angry with him for certain.

As he then arrived at the house where the Tannens lived, he was startled by Biff's car coming up to meet him. A "Watch where you're driving, Brown!" was swung towards his head as Tannen rapidly drove off.

Emmett got out of the car and pondered his options. If Biff's car was out of the garage, that meant that Marty was freed. He could go after Biff, but he hadn't seen anything that even looked like Marty in the trunk and he had the feeling the teen wouldn't be there either. He was proven right as he ran up the driveway and found Marty just crawling out from under a workbench. The teen frowned as he spotted Emmett. "You sure took your time in getting here."

"I'm sorry" Emmett said, blushing. "I must have been… distracted."

"Nostalgia, I take it?" Marty replied, managing a faint smirk.

"That might have been part of it, yes" Emmett admitted. "Anyway, I'm sorry it took me so long. I didn't intend to."

"It's all right, Emmett" Marty said, with a sigh. "I can imagine this situation fascinates you. It does the same to me, although, of course, I have never been a native to this time period and thus can not know exactly what you are thinking."

"Right, of course" Emmett replied. "Now that I see you're free… have you got the book yet?"

"I'm afraid not" Marty said, sighing again. "I didn't see Biff again until he drove away with his car. And he is going to the rhythmic ceremonial, and I don't dare following him there."

"Why not?" Emmett said.

Marty looked at him with sheer disbelief. "Emmett, do you realize what you are saying? This is the Enchantment under the Sea rhythmic ceremonial we are talking about! I could run into my other self!"

"Your other self?" Emmett echoed. "Oh, yes, I saw him at the Square."

Marty gasped. "You went close enough to him to see him?" he said, stunned. "Emmett, I'm beginning to think you don't understand what's at stake here!"

"Well, we can't stay out of every single danger zone" Emmett pointed out. "We have to get that book back from Biff. You should just go follow him, I think."

"I can't enter that ceremonial" Marty said, sighing. "My counterpart is there and I have no desire to encounter him and potentially alter history."

"Will you ever speak about something different from that?" Emmett replied.

Marty blushed. "That is a reasonable point, I suppose, and I can see why you are of the opinion that I am over-reacting. However, this is not an issue that can be taken very lightly. We're talking about the fate of the entire space-time continuum here, and as much as you might dislike talking about it, it is important."

"I suppose" Emmett said. "But you can just go up there, can't you? I thought you had said before that it was very important that we'd get the book back as soon as possible."

"That's correct" Marty said. "We can't let it be delayed for too long, or else Biff might retain some knowledge and still gain money. Not a large sum, of course, but it's still an alteration to history. Of course, our very presence here is altering history as we speak…"

"Well, that makes this the only option" Emmett said, beaming. "We can't let this wait, Marty. You just said it yourself. You have to take the book now and if you have to go to the rhythmic whatever for it, you'll just have to do that."

Marty thought about that, then nodded slowly. "I suppose that you have a point" he muttered. "Oh, Great Scott, this could go drastically wrong…"

"It won't have to" Emmett said. "If you stay out of the way of your parents and your other self, nothing should happen. Biff wasn't with you guys all the time, was he?"

"Fortunately, no" Marty said. "I only really saw him slightly after nine o'clock, when he knocked me out and was in turn knocked out by my father, so before that he would be…" He glanced at one of his watches and gasped. "Great Scott! It's eight-thirty… we're running out of time here!"

"You know the time?" Emmett said, surprised.

"I reset one of the watches to the current time when I came into town and passed the Courthouse with functioning clock tower" Marty explained. "On the other, the old time and date remains. It's quite convenient to see what time we would be in if we'd just stayed behind. Of course, presuming that such a thing exists first requires assumption that time is relative to our perceptions of it and that…"

"Biff?" an unfamiliar female voice then came. "Biff, are you still there? Are you back?"

"It must be Biff's grandmother" Emmett whispered. Marty nodded. "Quick, let's get out of the area!"

They ran down the driveway and entered the truck. Marty glanced at the clock again, then at the truck itself. "You're bringing me?" he guessed.

"Yeah" Emmett replied. "Why not?"

Marty shrugged. "It just sounds a slight tad dangerous" he said. "But you're probably right in that we shouldn't care right now. We don't have time to lose after all."

"Absolutely" Emmett agreed. He turned on the engine and engaged the hover conversion (which Marty quickly put off again, explaining once more that they could not be seen flying in 1955) and with that, they were off to the dance.

oooooooo

They reached the area only a few minutes later, after a surprisingly quick journey. Emmett wanted to stay at first, but a firm response from Marty told him that he couldn't do that. Instead, the inventor went over to the nearby Hill Valley Park, where he would hang out until Marty would report about his eventual successes in retrieving the sports book.

As Emmett left, Marty had to admit that he felt a little disorientated. Familiar music was playing, and a look at his watches told him that he actually had little over eight minutes left to wander around before his younger self would arrive and be capable of spotting him – not that this was the thing that would be on the younger teen's mind, of course. A scan of his memory of the evening told him that around this time, he would be leaving the Baines' house with his future mother, and that he hadn't been quite optimistic about that at the time.

Walking towards the dance floor, Marty couldn't help but look around. He noticed the spot he would soon 'park' on was still empty, as it should be. More to the point, he noticed Biff's car – a Ford, according to the signs on the car – standing near the doorway. He gave it a quick check before resigning himself to his fate. The car was empty – that meant that the sports book was with Biff, at the rhythmic ceremonial.

As he opened the doorway into the gym and then the one into the actual dance floor, Marty remembered something he had also bought in 2015 just in case he would ever need it. And he did, now. He took out his binoculars and started looking around. Of the people he knew, he first spotted his father. George McFly was dancing by himself in a corner, and had probably only just arrived. He wasn't particularly optimistic as far as Marty could see, and a couple of humiliating looks towards him that indicated that people didn't quite like his presence on the dance floor soon made him stop dancing and lean against a wall somewhere, keeping his eyes almost glued on the clock.

Marty shook his head, sighed, and continued to look for Biff. He found the bully not long afterwards – Tannen was holding a bottle of some kind of liquid, probably alcoholic, and was putting it into the rhythmic ceremonial drinking reservoir. He also had the sports book in his back pocket, stuck out of it in an almost too obvious way. The eighteen-year-old was surrounded by his gang, Match, 3-D and Skinhead, and a look to the left told Marty that Mr. Strickland had seen what Biff was doing, and did not approve.

Biff, however, had also noticed, shook his head, and decided to head off. Knowing that Biff was most likely out here for him, Marty retreated into the shadows as the bully passed him on his way out, weighing his chances for grabbing the book in a quick move as Biff would pass but knowing all too well that if not Biff himself, then the gang would notice and make him pay.

As they had all left, Marty quietly walked out as well, though he couldn't resist giving one more look towards the dance floor before leaving. The scene was almost irresistible to watch, seeing history in the making, but never being interested in rhythmic ceremonials helped him tearing his eyes off the scene. He headed out after Biff, looking around before he eventually found him leaning against a small wall somewhere. His gang was with him. Marty sneaked over , crossed the wall and landed with as little noise as possible on the ground next to them.

"What's with that book you have there in your back pocket, Biff?" Marty could hear Skinhead asking.

Biff turned around protectively, allowing the sports book to go quite close to where Marty was standing. The temptation was too big and the teenager thought this would be the best chance he was getting. He started reaching out.

"It's nothing" Biff ensured his friends. "Just a sports book somebody gave me."

His friends chuckled. "You've never been that much of a sports guy, have you?" Match said. "What are you doing with it now?"

Biff shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just a little reading… I'm allowed to read things I've never read before, ain't I?"

In the meantime, Marty had managed to reach out quite far. His hand was slipping within a feet of the book. Just a little closer…

"Sure, Biff" 3-D said. "We were just wondering and all…"

Marty was about to take the book when Biff's hand suddenly reached out for it. The younger teen quickly withdrew his own hand as Biff took out the book. As he headed up along the stairs, he could see Biff give it to the gang. "Now, you wanted to see what's in it? Here you go. Now, leave me alone, okay?"

"Sure, Biff" Match replied.

"Or better yet," Biff figured, "go find that idiot Clint Eastwood. He crippled the front of my car a few days ago. I got it in a reasonable shape now, but you have no idea how much money it cost me. I still don't know either, but what I've seen so far, it's not going to be cheap! Terry at the shop estimated it could cost me up to fifteen hundred bucks! If I get that punk I'm going to kill him!"

"Yeah right, Biff" 3-D replied. "We'll track him down."

"You'd better" Biff muttered as they walked away. This temporarily caused Marty to wonder what he should do. He had seen Biff give the book to the gang. However, it was going a little too easy. And Biff still had another book in his hands, and although he couldn't quite see what it was, it looked like the sports book.

And as he was still looking around, thinking what to do, Marty suddenly saw something remarkable. He used his binoculars to confirm it, but he did not need confirmation, not really. He had known from the moment he had seen the car.

A truck was driving into the parking lot. And inside were Past Marty McFly and Lorraine Baines.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Just imagine what would happen if I _did_ own BTTF before you start saying that I might own it. **

_Author's Note: New chapter, and it's a long one. That wasn't intended originally - the original was slightly longer than normal, but not over thousand words longer, which this one is. It's 4000 words, and the next one will be over 3000. That's all because of the scene I added in at the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next, where Marty has to evade __Biff's gang. Originally, I was just going to have Marty summarize it to Emmett, but in the end, I decided 'why not' and added it in. _

_Anyway, for Marty, this chapter can be defined as the 'get-the-almanac-and-nearly-mess-up-a-lot-of-things-from-my-previous-trip-chapter'. You'll soon find out why. _**  
**

**13: Chapter Thirteen**

Marty shook his head. There was no way he was going to stay out now! He would not allow himself to encounter younger Marty, and even though he knew from his memory that it would take somewhere between five to ten minutes before his other self would actually leave the car, it was better to be away from him early. Making sure that neither Biff or his counterpart or Lorraine could see him, the teenager carefully headed back to the dance floor to track down Biff's gang members.

A quickly look around as he re-entered told him that it wasn't going to be a piece of cake. The dance was at the height of its activity, and with all the youths around, he couldn't see the gang anywhere. Though he had a dislike for crowds already, this made him hate being in them even more. Of course, there was also the advantage that the gang couldn't see him easily, but that idea didn't help all that much to lighten Marty's spirit.

As he looked across the gym with his binoculars, he finally spotted the three boys. Match, 3-D and Skinhead were standing near the band, and as the seventeen-year-old looked closer, he could see what they were looking at – the papers stashed away a few feet from the band members themselves. Suddenly, Marty remembered how he had heard about the missing papers during his previous visit. They were probably on the verge of getting stolen now.

Looking closer, the teen then identified something else. Hanging above the three band members were a group of bags, all tied up. He smirked, as the beginning of an idea formed in his mind. If he could somehow get over there and loosen the rope… make the bags fall and knock the gang members unconscious… he did a few quick calculations. The weight of the bags should be enough to remove their consciousness for at least a few minutes – probably six or seven. And he didn't need that much time anyway. As long as they were out for the count for enough time for him to take the sports book, it would be fine.

But how would he undo the knot? For a moment, that problem worried Marty, but as he looked closer, he could see a horizontal ladder-construction of some sorts hanging above the podium. It ended very close to the place he needed to be to untie the bags, and as he followed it to the left, Marty could see there was a real ladder (as in a vertical one) right there. If he was inconspicuous enough, he could climb onto it, untie the knot and grab the sports book. Smiling, he headed over.

Unfortunately, though, he was not looking where he was going. Barely halfway to the ladder, he bumped into a very familiar young man. George McFly turned around towards him, his eyes widening. "Marty? What are you doing here!"

The time traveler winced. "Um, George…" he began, staring everywhere but at his future father, the man who, if Marty didn't get the sports book back, was going to die within eighteen years.

"I thought Mr. Brown said you were going to be with Lorraine until nine!" George exclaimed. "It's only, like, eight-fifty now! What happened? Did Lorraine tell you to go away?"

Marty had to smile at the idea, but shook his head. "No, nothing like that" he ensured his teenage father who, from what he could see, was terribly insecure. "It's just that Lorraine had to, uh, had to go to the bathroom, and I decided to have a look at the dance floor."

"Ah, right" George said. "I see. You're probably wondering what I'm doing here, too, considering I told you earlier that I didn't want to go here tonight, but our television malfunctioned! Precisely as you told me!"

"Now, really?" Marty replied, feigning surprise.

George was too distracted to pay attention to Marty's lack of emotion in the words he spoke. "Yeah!" he answered, enthusiastically. "It really did! So, I called your uncle and asked him whether you'd be here or not and he told me you were going to experiment with the idea of life in space and contacting it." George's expression brightened. "Can you show me what you've got for it?"

"Um, well," Marty started, but George cut him off again, rapidly making up apologies and pleas. "I know you're probably going to be busy and that you won't want me hanging around, but it's just such an interesting phenomenon and maybe we could talk a little while about aliens…"

Marty took a step back. He knew his father was interested in extra-terrestrial life, but he hadn't figured he'd go that insane over it. It sort of reminded him of himself, in fact.

A thought suddenly popped into his head. What if his immense interest in science wasn't something that had just come to him out of nowhere, as he'd always assumed? What if it was a real genetic trait that had been common in the McFly family before him? George McFly certainly showed interest in territories usually regarded as science _fiction_, and though there was a difference between that and real science, Marty got the impression that his father would be curious about that as well if his son told him, and besides, hadn't he proven with his temporal field warping and displacement machine that the line between real science and fiction wasn't as clear as what had always been assumed?

But well, even if he had inherited those traits from his Dad, it didn't matter right now. He had to get George out of the way right now – he couldn't have his father hang around him all the time. Not only would it disrupt his mission to retrieve the sports book, it would also, and that was much more dangerous, cause him not to meet Marty's younger self who was supposed to approach him and Lorraine under the guise of an alien. A look at the clock told him that Marty '55 was about to leave the truck and disguise himself. He had to get George over there somehow.

"I suppose I can show you something" he finally said, thoughtfully. "Why don't you head over to the park around the same time you originally intended to? That way, I'll have some time to… explain to Lorraine where I'm going."

"Maybe you should take her along" George suggested. "I'm not sure whether I… am capable of being in a girl's presence… you know I'm kind of shy… but it would be nice for her, you know, see her boyfriend's experiment. Especially if it succeeds." He smiled. "I guess this means you've finally decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, haven't you? I told you Lorraine was the one for you."

"Yeah, she probably is" Marty said, a little uncomfortable. He certainly did not need a reminder of that issue again. "Well, I have to go. See you soon." He headed off in the direction of the door until George had stopped watching, and then went the exact other way, trying to find the gang again.

Concerning them, there was good news and there was bad news. The good news was that he could indeed find them, and did so fairly easily. The bad news was that they were no longer below the bags. Marty sighed, and tried to look closer with the binoculars, noticing that one of them was, in fact, reading in the sports book. He sighed as he zoomed in…

And then, he froze. The book the gang member – Match, it was – was reading in, was most definitely _not_ the sports book. That book did not have pictures of scantily clad women in it, after all.

Marty gasped and tried to think of an explanation and a way out of this disaster. Where could the real sports book be? If this was the book the gang had had on them all along, then the book would have to be still with Biff. Cursing under his breath in frustration, Marty ran out of the building as quick as he could.

A quick look around told him something he'd already suspected – Biff was no longer on the place he had once been, leaning against the wall. He was pretty sure the bully wasn't on the dance floor either. Marty looked around frantically. Where could Biff be…

He didn't know later on how he came to the realization. Part of it might have been from looking at the spot the younger version of his time truck was parked, now devoid of all its passengers. Part of it might have been the quick glance at his watch, which marked the time as 8:56, just turning to 8:57. Whatever the reason, Marty suddenly knew exactly where the bully he was looking for was.

It was a few minutes before nine P.M. The moment his younger self had planned a big alien demonstration which had been interrupted by Biff Tannen was very, very near. Possibilities raced through the young teen's mind. In the original sequence of events, George had somehow punched Biff out after he had tried to rape Lorraine. If it still happened now, it would be a very convenient thing for Marty. It would mean that he was free to take the sports book from unconscious Biff, like he had been planning to take it from the gang members after knocking them out.

However, the idea wasn't entirely secure. What if his interference in the original sequence had already caused this incident not to happen, or to happen differently? Marty shuddered, thinking of his conversation with George and how that could have changed the time schedule he was on. Or what if the presence of the sports book itself had already removed the incident from history?

The moment after he thought of that possibility, Marty discarded it. After all, he had just come from a world where Biff had lived through these events with the sports book on him, and, as his alternate mother had told him, the knocking-out event had still happened the way he had been told it had after coming back from 1955. No, if for some reason, Biff would not be knocked out by George, it was entirely Marty's own fault. That wasn't something very nice to realize, but Marty figured that it had to be the truth.

Sighing insecurely, the seventeen-year-old headed over to the spot he knew that his younger self would be. He'd have to hurry – Lorraine had already left the car, which meant that there was not much time. Glancing at his watch every ten seconds or so, Marty started running towards the park.

As he came closer, he could see some familiar lights and hear some familiar sounds. The teenager smirked. Oh, yes, he remembered this. It meant that his younger self was still all right, and that the teenaged versions of his parents were around. He ducked behind a tree and tried to make his way over as inconspicuous as possible.

"Marry!" he could hear his young mother shout. "No way! No offence, but…"

"Why us!" his father chimed in. "Why didn't this head of the empire select any other earth couple – heck, I shouldn't say 'any other couple' as we aren't one! If you were going to get a couple to marry, why not take an established one like Marty and Lorraine! Not that I want you to do that, of course, but…" The teenager paused, briefly. "We don't want this!"

As Past Marty let warm wind blow towards his victims/parents with the hair dryer, his future self, who had sat down behind some bushes, had to smile. He remembered how hard it had been to make his parents fall in love, and watching it from another angle was very interesting. He looked towards the path, and saw how George and Lorraine finally complied and gave their guarantees that, indeed, they would marry. He took a look at his watch, which told him that the time was 9:02 P.M. Biff could show up any time now, if everything went all right – and considering what was going on in here, Marty had no doubt that it would.

Until he heard Emmett's voice very close to him, saying: "Hey Marty, have you got the book back yet?"

For a moment, Marty thought his heart was going to stop beating. Past Marty, who was just busy with frightening his parents some more and threatening them not to break up, looked up, distracted at hearing his best friend's voice where it absolutely should and could not be. "Huh?" he said.

That was all Lorraine needed to strike. She ran up towards him, preparing to knock the hair dryer out of her son's hands. Marty realized the consequences in an instant. Not thinking of even disguising his voice, he desperately yelled: "Look out!"

Though Past Marty was still confused, he complied with the request and only just in time. Seeing Lorraine heading towards him, he managed to block her punch. What he didn't manage to avoid, though, was his mother colliding with him. Past Marty and Lorraine were both thrown back and landed on the ground.

At that moment, Marty's walkie-talkie came to life again. "Marty?" Emmett repeated. "Have you got…"

"Ssh!" Marty replied, then adding in a sort of compromise between whispering so that his parents and his younger self couldn't hear or talking normally so that his friend _could_ hear: "I'll tell you later."

Emmett seemed to get the message, as he didn't reply, which permitted Marty to look back to the scene in front of him. To his shock, he could see his younger self's face. Lorraine's blow had pushed his mask off, and revealed to everyone around who he was.

Lorraine, who had fallen next to him and could thus see him best, gasped. "Marty?" she whispered, confused. "But… why… how…"

"It's you?" George said, equally surprised. "But… you just said that… all right, what's going on here?"

Past Marty got back to his feet, assisted by Lorraine, and blushed. "Well, uh…" he began. "I don't know how to tell you this, but…"

"Don't bother!"

All four of them, including Marty's present day self, turned to the direction the voice had come from. To his relief – now that was a weird sensation, being relieved with his presence – Marty could see Biff approaching. A faint smile appeared on his face. History was back on track.

oooooooo

After having seen the scene he'd only heard about in tales the first time around, his father knocking out Biff Tannen, and watching his parents converse with his younger self, Marty made his way over to Biff. The bully was completely deserted of people – Marty figured he couldn't blame his father for not caring about him, and Lorraine probably wouldn't mind her near-rapist being left alone either – and seemed to be absolutely unconscious. Grinning, Marty kneeled down to take the sports book.

As he did so, however, it occurred to him that he didn't know where it was. He couldn't see anything that resembled a book anywhere on the bully, and for a moment, he panicked. Then, he remembered that Biff had probably put it back in his back pocket. Which presented him with another problem – Biff's back pocket was, of course, in the back. He was going to have to roll him over.

Rolling a small boy over wasn't hard, but Biff was nowhere near a small boy. After a lot of work, Marty finally managed to get the eighteen-year-old lying on his side. The sports book was right there, and as Marty took it and flipped through it, he was relieved to see that it was the right one this time around. He began to get up, when Biff's arm suddenly and unexpectedly stretched out and took hold of his jacket near his throat.

"You cost me fifteen hundred bucks, _and_ you're taking my book?" Biff said, angry. "That's going to cost you!"

"Now, wait a minute, Biff" Marty began. Then pointing behind the bully, he exclaimed: "What's that!"

As usual, Biff fell for the trick and looked. Marty reached out and knocked him out. Smiling and proud of the fact that he had managed to knock out his arch nemesis, he took the sports book and ran away.

At a safe distance away from Biff, Marty took out his walkie-talkie. "Emmett?"

"Marty!" Emmett's voice came. "What was the matter with you? I was talking to you, and you were acting so strange!"

"I'm sorry" the teenager replied. "Listen, Emmett, I've managed to make my mission a success. I have retrieved the sports book."

"That's great" Emmett responded. "I'll come to pick you up, right away."

"Good" Marty said. "Why don't you come over to the roof of the gym? It's a good landing spot for the temporal field warping and displacement machine, and few people will see your approach, unless they happen to be looking up at the time."

"They could be stargazing, couldn't they?" Emmett said. "Or looking at the storm… isn't that going to come around soon, too?"

"Yes, I believe it is" Marty replied. "But they wouldn't look on the roof. Stargazing is mostly done in the park here anyway. So, get over to the roof, if you can."

"Just taking off right now" Emmett replied. "I should be over in about…"

Marty frowned. "In about what?"

"Five minutes" Emmett replied. Sorry for the silence, but I bumped into a tree… doesn't look like this park is a good place for taking off with a car. I suppose I'm going to have to drive the way there. That'll take a bit longer… would that be okay with you?"

"Sure" Marty replied. "I can wait. Just watch out for people who might ask your younger self about your presence, okay? And don't go over to the Courthouse Square."

"Certainly not" Emmett said. "I thought you knew me better than to expect that, Marty."

The teen shrugged. "Well, I know your curiosity. I suppose you wouldn't do that in a situation like this, but I was asking just to be safe. I guess I shall encounter you within a limited amount of time, Emmett."

"See you soon too, Marty." The connection was cut off, and Marty pocketed the walkie-talkie. He then could feel a sigh of relief going through him. Finally, he'd managed to retrieve the sports book. Now they only had to get rid of it and then go back to 1985. They had been spending too much time in 1955 already. Sure, he did kind of want to have a look at his old truck, but that would take too much time and it would be too dangerous? Or would it? After all, Emmett mentioned the drive was going to take some time, his parents should just be starting to dance at the gym, with his younger self watching. He should be safe, shouldn't he?

As he was wondering about that, he suddenly found himself bumping into someone. Looking up, Marty found to his horror that it was a member of Biff's gang, and the others were there as well. They were holding the music text they had taken from the band. "Great Scott!" the teen exclaimed.

"It's him!" one of the gang members exclaimed.

"Hey – he's in disguise!" the second added.

Marty knew he had to resort to a quick and simple trick now. "What's that!" he exclaimed, pointing behind them.

To his surprise, the gang immediately fell for it. Marty pushed past them and ran off, causing the gang to chase him. His mind raced, pondering his options. He couldn't go onto the roof yet, because the gang would follow them and he couldn't make an easy exit from there – Emmett would not arrive for another few minutes. Instead, as they were about to pass the gym door, Marty decided to duck inside.

A quick look around told him that his parents were just heading onto the dance floor. His younger self, however, was standing nearly right in front of him. Marty's heart nearly came to a stop as he saw Past Marty, who was fortunately turned the other way. He immediately dove under a table. His younger self frowned, but didn't seem to be interested in going over and investigate the weird sound.

"_Of course not" _Marty thought to himself. _"When I'm in danger of being erased from existence, things like this would be silly details to me. I just wish he got away from here." _

However, Past Marty didn't move, and seemed to be content to stand right where his older self was hiding under the table. And just when Marty thought that the situation couldn't get any worse – did he really have to wait for his younger self to get out of here? – Biff's gang entered the gym.

"There you are" the tallest said, and Marty heard them moving towards his past self.

"Excuse me?" Past Marty asked. "What is your problem?"

"You know what our problem is" one of the gang members said. "Biff told us to get you for what you did to him last Tuesday."

Past Marty frowned. "I was under the impression that Biff already beat me up" he said, a clear sarcastic undertone in his voice. "Do you really feel the need to add to that?"

"As a matter of fact, yes we do" another one of the gang members said. Marty winced. A quick peek from under the table told them they completely surrounded his younger self. And so soon after the 'What's that' trick he had pulled on them, Marty was sure they wouldn't fall for that either. Of course, George might be able to help… but that would only cause more problems. If George saw Marty was in danger, he might abandon his quest to kiss Lorraine at this crucial moment… and that would be very, _very _bad. Marty gulped. No, there was only one option – _he_ would have to help his younger self. _"And I'd better hope Emmett doesn't call me again while I do so" _he thought to himself, smirking.

For a moment, he didn't have a clue of what he should do. Then, he grinned. _"Of course. The old tie-up-the-shoelaces trick." _

Careful to let no one hear him, Marty moved over towards the shoes of one of the gang members. He stuck his head out from underneath the table and slowly began to tie up the shoelaces of the gang members, all while continuing to listen to their conversation.

"Can't we take this up some other time?" Past Marty tried. "I'm… not feeling so well." He winced, and took a look at his hand. Marty didn't need to look up to realize that his younger self could see through it.

"No" Match, one of Biff's gang members, told Past Marty. "We were just about to beat you up, and we don't care how you feel." He pulled on Past Marty's vest. "You're in need of a lesson."

Past Marty winced. "Listen, maybe you can see how Biff is doing, first?" he asked, weakly. "Da-George knocked him out, and I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you took care of him."

"He'd appreciate it even more if we knocked you out" 3-D said. "Come on, guys." They moved forwards…

…to find that they couldn't. Marty let out a sigh of relief – he'd just managed to finish tying up 3-D's shoelaces with those of Skinhead. However, he hadn't gotten around to knocking out Match yet – who looked towards him. Marty narrowly managed to look the other way so he wouldn't be recognized, but the message was clear nonetheless – someone was messing with Biff's gang.

Marty put his hat back on and got up from underneath the table, nearly stumbling in his haste. He could feel his younger self's eyes on his back as he took off, Match immediately pursuing him. He forced his way through the confused crowd, occasionally sparing a glance for Lorraine, who was 'dancing' with Dixon. Behind them, he could see his younger self being chased by the remaining members of the gang (which of course didn't go so fast since their shoes were tied together, but erasing-from-existence Past Marty wasn't so quick either, so it compensated). His younger self got annoyed, and Marty could predict what was going through his head (_Isn't it enough that I'm getting erased from the time stream, but do you have to beat me up too?) _as he reached out and managed to, with some final strength left in him, knock out Skinhead and 3-D (which wasn't that hard, since their shoes were still tied together). Marty smiled, relieved, and was even more relieved when he saw George looking at Past Marty and getting the hint of what he should do about the Dixon problem. Marty smiled, and then got on with his chase as Match nearly caught up to him. At least history was back on track – and Marty supposed the rest would fall into place neatly as well. He already had an idea of how to do it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Back to the Future Part II. Of course, since this story greatly diverges from the original, it might not be necessary to disclaim the particular movie, just the franchise in general. On the other hand, there are a few very similar scenes. Let's just presume I don't own anything, that's much better. **

_Author's Note: At last, another chapter. I bet you were all waiting anxiously for it and are now annoyed you have to read through another one of these silly Author's Notes before getting to the story. You may also be annoyed at how easily I resolved the cliffhanger from the last chapter, but that was mostly because I couldn't find another place to split up the scene. Anyway. Oh, and I finished Temporal Destiny in the West last week (Sunday October 9th 2011 6:28 PM Central European Time, if you were wondering) which is the sequel to this story. However, since it is not as good as the first draft for RTT was, it'll take some time before I upload it. But hey, I think I can promise you to have the last chapter up very soon. Before Nanowrimo starts, anyway._

_But to get to the actual purpose of this Author's Note, which is giving you a useless summary of the story you could've figured out for yourself as well, this is the chapter in which Marty has a few more space-time-continuum-endangering adventures in the '50s, Emmett decides watching Marty mess up is getting boring and chooses to set up the plot for the next part by getting lightning to send him back to 1885, and Biff Tannen is being a jerk as usual. And the ending consists of lines that are nearly identical to Part II's script because after all, why would you change perfection?_**  
**

**14: Chapter Fourteen**

With a narrow lead on the gang member pursuing him, Marty managed to exit through the outside door of the gym, entering the small hallway leading outside. He quickly took up position behind the door and, as Match came through, slammed it into the bully's face. Match groaned, clearly dizzy. "What the…"

That was all Marty needed. He ran around the door and with a well-directed punch he then managed to knock Match unconscious. "I'm getting good at this" he muttered, pulling the bully out of the corridor and dragging him towards a secluded place where no one would notice him. Or at least not right away.

He'd barely finished when he heard some footsteps coming his way. Marty wouldn't have thought too much of it hadn't his own voice then called out to him. "It's you!" Past Marty exclaimed. "Thank you, for saving me. Biff's gang was about to punch me unconscious. I can't thank you enough for interfering."

"It was, uh, no trouble" Marty replied, looking away and disguising his voice. "I'm not too fond of Biff and his gang anyway."

"I can imagine that" Past Marty muttered. "The entire gang consists of no-good pests." He looked at Match, who was, despite his older self's efforts, narrowly within his sight. "Though I see you've gotten rid of one of them."

"Yeah, and I saw you deal with the other two" Marty said, smiling. He shot a quick look at his younger self. "I wish I could talk to you some more, but I really have to go, you know, and…"

"Oh, that's all right" Past Marty interrupted him. "I'm in a bit of a hurry myself. Maybe we'll bump into each other again sometime in the times that have yet to come from the… I mean, the future."

"Or in the already elaps – the past" Marty muttered. He was about to step towards the door when…

"Marty!"

Both Marty's turned at Lorraine's voice, though the older version quickly turned back and retreated into the shadows. "Leaving already?" Lorraine added, as she and George walked up to Past Marty – she apparently hadn't seen his older self. "Sure, the dance is over, but I'm surprised you didn't stay a little while more. And you didn't even come over to tell us goodbye."

"My apologies" Past Marty said. "But I'm in enough of a rush as it is – I was just talking to someone who saved me from Biff's gang, and that took up enough time already." He frowned, looking around. "That's strange... he's gone all of a sudden."

Lorraine frowned. "Never mind that" she said. "Why are you in a hurry anyway? Can't you spend all the time you want in here and return the moment you left? That's what I thought, anyway..."

"Very clever" Past Marty complimented. "You're right, that would be the case, but only if the time machine was working properly – which it isn't, as I don't have enough fuel to get home. And tonight at 10:04 PM, a lightning bolt shall strike the local clock tower and give me an easy way to get that fuel, if I can be on time to catch the energy from the lightning."

Marty winced, as he saw the familiar dialogue unfold itself naturally from here on. He couldn't step out in the open now – George and Lorraine would question him, and he might end up changing things or say something that revealed his identity. He couldn't flee through another way either, since there was none from where he was standing. No, the only way to get out of here was to wait – and he would have to wait until all three of them had left.

oooooooo

Emmett frowned, as he carefully steered the time machine close to the roof of the building. Marty was nowhere in sight. He knew the teen wasn't one to let things distract him, and he figured that as a result, the seventeen-year-old should've come over right away – Emmett was even late himself, so with that in mind, it was really strange for Marty not to be there! That he was nowhere to be seen was something that greatly puzzled Emmett.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait very long for an explanation to come. Moments after he had opened the truck door, his friend came racing up the stairs and sighed with exhaustion. "Well, at least that's finished" he muttered, to himself. "I'm never visiting November 12th again." Marty took a deep breath before looking up at the truck. "You're already here, I see" he said. "Apologies for the delay, Emmett."

"Never mind" the sixty-five-year-old replied. "What's the matter? Why are you so late?"

"Long story" Marty said. "Biff's gang showed up and tried to beat me up. I tried to avoid them by going inside, but they saw the younger me and attempted to go after him instead, so I had to distract them. It was very complicated and I even had to talk to my younger self for a moment."

"To your younger self?" Emmett said. "I thought you told me not to interact with our other selves."

"I didn't do it on purpose" Marty said, defensively. "It was an accident. He didn't seem to recognize me – thank goodness for small favors. Anyway, these close calls make me wish to get out of here."

"I suppose I can agree with the sentiment" Emmett said. "It's nice to visit 1955 again, but having to go through the most complicated situations just to avoid running into other mes… that's not my idea of fun." He looked at Marty's pocket, changing the subject. "Have you got the sports book?"

The young scientist took it out of his jacket and held it up. "I have it" he said. "Unfortunately, that does not mean we can go home just yet."

Emmett frowned, as he had in fact been expecting that. "Why not?" he asked.

"I want to remove the book from this world permanently" Marty said. "No one must ever be allowed to use it in this new sequence of events. Taking it home with us would allow for such a thing to happen. We could burn it there, but I would feel better if we settled it right away."

Emmett had to admit that it was a good point, considering what the teen had said about the sports book before. "So, what do you want to do with it, then?" he asked. "Dump it off Parker Cliff?"

Marty smirked. "No, that would still allow for it to be around and be picked up by people who are taking a walk through the ravine" he said. "No, the only permanent solution to this problem is to burn the book. And the best place to do that is not here, as we don't have any material to burn it with, and the Hill Valley High School Gym roof is not exactly the most inconspicuous place to do it on. It could get us arrested, even." He winced as he thought of the consequences of such an event occurring.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Emmett asked.

"We could head back to Hill Valley Park" Marty suggested. "It might not be the best option, considering the fact that there will still be the possibility of having people around, but well…" He shrugged. "We'll see. At least in the park, there will be tree branches and things like that so we can easily burn the book."

"Right" Emmett agreed. "Hop in, then." He smiled enthusiastically. "You mind if I fly? It's awesome!"

"You gamble" Marty said, smirking. "Fine, go ahead. It's going to be our last flying trip for quite some time anyway."

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked, as Marty climbed inside.

"I mean that once we get back home, which will hopefully be very soon, I'll be stashing the time vehicle inside your garage for quite a while" Marty responded. "Time travel is dangerous, and I've gone through enough danger for now. I can barely keep track of all the times we've been to, all the things we've altered. I want some time to settle into my new life."

"Yeah, I understand" Emmett said, taking the car up in the sky. "How's that going, anyway?"

"Well, once I travelled to the future, I noticed I was gaining new memories of this timeline" Marty said. "I now remember both what happened before, and what happened after my first trip through time – well, not chronologically speaking, but I presume you grasp what I mean. Anyway, though this is a very convenient process, it's also complicating my memory. I'll have to conduct some research for that in case there should be any major memory adjustments after future time travelling – another argument to put the time vehicle to rest for some time."

Emmett shrugged. "Whatever you say, Marty."

Marty nodded, and leaned back in his seat, allowing Emmett to focus on flying the car over. Within a few minutes, they were over at Hill Valley Park. On the way there, Marty had noticed a string of flags hanging out of the time machine, some that the car had picked up from the Lyon Estates billboard when they bumped into it, and as he exited the car outside of the park, he held onto the end of the string. "Could be convenient if you need to pull me up" he responded. Emmett just smirked at the thought, and flew the car into the sky to watch Marty proceed from above.

As he did so, though, he noticed that the weather had gotten much worse. Certainly, it had been gradually worsening for some time now, but this sudden weather deterioration was very unexpected. Lightning flashed all around him, and the horse dealer began to regret that he had taken the truck up. "This is heavy!" he exclaimed, through the walkie-talkie.

"If you think this weighs much, or whatever you mean by that, you shouldn't have gone up in the first place!" Marty replied. "What were your motives for that? It didn't sound like a very smart option to me."

Emmett shrugged, then regretted it as he nearly lost control of the car. "I suppose not" he replied. "I just thought that getting to fly was really cool, and I wanted to take a look at you burning the book… I should have stayed down." He sighed. "I think I'm going to have to circle around before landing now." Trying to change the subject, he added: "Have you found anything to burn the sports book with, yet?"

"Not yet" Marty responded. "Ah! Here's some tree branches."

"You'd better hurry up" Emmett advised. "I remember that it rained a lot shortly after you left 1955, and you don't want to get caught up in that." He looked over to the time circuits. "You still have the time, though, it's currently nine-forty-eight… oh, perfect!"

"What's the matter, Emmett?" Marty inquired.

"Nothing much, I suppose" his friend responded. "Just that the time circuits are acting up again. They tell me our destination is 'January first, 1885' once more." He groaned. "Must have been that tree I hit before flying over to the school."

"Great Scott" came the annoyed reply a moment later. "I really have to fix that thing once we go back."

"I suppose." Emmett tried to look out of the window, but was unable to see anything because of the lightning flashing around. "Have you got your fire running yet?"

"Not yet, not yet… almost… yes!" Emmett could hear Marty's sigh of relief. "Whew, that took some time, I… Great Scott!"

Emmett echoed his friend's sentiments as a lightning bolt suddenly came down right past the two of them. "Marty, are you all right?" Emmett called out, worried and at the same time frantically trying to keep the time machine under his control.

"I believe I am" the teen responded. "But _you_should watch out, too. After all, you don't want to get struck by lightning!"

When Marty had barely finished his sentence, a huge bolt of lightning came down from the sky and hit the truck. Emmett, panicking, tried to keep the machine under control once more, but failed dramatically. He could only watch as the car spun around, accelerated to 88 and vanished from 1955.

oooooooo

"You don't want to get struck by lightning!"

Just moments after Marty had relied this message to his friend high up in the sky, an enormous bolt of lightning struck the time truck. In a reflex action, Marty let go of the flag string and tumbled backwards, stumbling over a tree root and falling to the ground. He watched as the car lit up and vanished, leaving just two backwards 'nine's' behind.

"Great Scott!" Marty exclaimed, for what had to be the third time in under a minute. "Emmett!" He got up and held out his walkie-talkie, the fire and the sports book lying next to it all but forgotten. "Emmett, are you there? Answer me!"

Though he knew that he was doing a pointless exercise, Marty was still disappointed when his friend gave no reply. Instead, the flag string came down out of the sky and landed on the ground. The teenager picked it up and held onto it. As he did so, he could clearly see the end the truck had been on was burning.

Marty sank down to his knees, trying to stop the tears from coming. He had to rationalize this. As a scientist, he knew that cars and people didn't just disappear. There had to be a reason, and the seventeen-year-old was pretty sure he knew what. He'd heard Emmett complaining about the destination time being January 1st, 1885. That combined with the lightning bolt, which had certainly contained at least 1.21 gigawatts, could easily explain where his friend had ended up: he'd travelled through time, to January the first in 1885. Whether he'd arrived intact on the other end was something that Marty didn't know yet, but he was sure that he could attempt to find out what happened to Emmett one way or another.

As he was thinking about all this, Marty suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to look into the face of one Biff Tannen. "You really thought you were going to get away with this so easy?" the bully said, grinning evilly.

"Biff" Marty muttered. He stood up, taking the sports book and holding it tightly onto his chest. "Go away. This book is not yours."

"It certainly is" Biff said. "An old man gave it to me today, so it's mine. But I don't have to listen to you." He took a step towards the younger teen. "Give me that book, Eastwood."

"Not in a million years" Marty bit back. He turned around to run away, but the only thing he ran into was the same stupid tree root he'd just stumbled over. It had the same effect this time: he fell down. Biff, seizing his chance, reached out and kicked the younger teen into his stomach, causing Marty to double over with pain and release the sports book.

As he took the sports book from Marty, who wasn't very capable of doing much against it, Biff smirked. "I told you to give me that book" he said. "Now, and this one's for my car." He kicked again, even harder this time. Marty winced, trying to think of something else but the pain was too strong. Of course, combined with that was the horror of knowing that the sports book was in Biff's hands once more…

"All right, I saw that!"

Both Marty and Biff looked up to see an unfamiliar man come up to them. "What do you want?" Biff demanded to know.

"I've come here because I needed to hand over something" the man replied. "However, right now, I want you to leave that kid alone. What did he do to you, anyway?"

"He ruined my car!" Biff exclaimed. "He damaged the entire front! It cost me fifteen hundred bucks to have it repaired!"

"You deserve it" the man replied. "I recognize you now. You're Biff Tannen, aren't you? You've become infamous in the street where I live for destroying windows. Now somebody finally does something to repay you, and you kidnap him and lead him into a dark place to beat him up?"

Marty had by now regained enough strength to get up. "That book is mine, too" he said, pointing at the book Biff was holding. "He stole it." Glaring at Biff, he reached out and took it back.

Of course, Biff wasn't going to let him get away with that. The eighteen-year-old immediately seized a hold on Marty's jacket. "You little punk, if you think I'm going to let you get away with that, I'll…"

In reply, the mysterious stranger intervened. He walked over and pushed Biff none too softly away from Marty. "You really have nothing else to do, have you Tannen? Bullying innocent kids. I wish I had something on me to teach you the lesson you deserve, but for now an ordinary kick will do. Now get out of here!" He hit Biff on his arm and gave him another push.

Though Biff was certainly no weakling, he knew when to back off. Reluctantly, he walked away. The stranger looked after him, and then turned back to Marty. "And as for you," he said, "have you seen anybody named Marty McFly around here?"

Marty frowned, confused at how this man could know who he was – after all, in this time period, only Emmett and his parents knew his real name. "What do you want from him?" he asked, skeptically.

The man shook his head. "Now, I helped you get rid of that bully, and you're giving me that attitude in return?"

That was a good point, Marty figured. "I am Marty McFly" he replied, albeit reluctantly. "And, if I may ask, who are you?"

The man's face became a bit friendlier. "Western Union" he told Marty. He took out an envelope. "I've come here tonight to deliver a letter to you."

"A letter?" Marty echoed. "But from whom?"

"Actually, we were hoping that _you_might be able to answer that question" the Western Union man replied. "You see, we've had this envelope in our possession for the past seventy years!" He laughed a bit. "It was given to us with the explicit instruction that it would have to be delivered to a young man with your description, near the western entrance of Hill Valley Park, on November 12th, 1955, at 9:55 P.M. We even had a little bet whether you'd actually be here – it looks like I lost." He laughed again.

"Did you say seventy years?" Marty said, reaching out for the envelope. He began to realize who this letter could be from, but wasn't entirely clear yet.

"Seventy years, two months and nine days, to be exact" the man confirmed. "Oh, and you have to sign this form first. On line six, please."

Though still a little wary, Marty put his autograph down, and took the envelope from the Western Union guy. He ripped it open and, walking a few steps away from the man, he took the contents out of it.

Inside the envelope were two old pieces of paper. Marty took the bottom one and looked at the end of the letter for the sender. The name he had been expecting was indeed there: Emmett Brown, September 3rd, 1885.

"It's from Emmett!" he couldn't help but exclaim. He walked even further away from the Western Union man now as he took the first paper and began to read. "Dear Marty," he read, "if I remember well where the truck was hit by lightning, then you should recei – recie – get this letter at the place where you are and about a minute after the lightning strike." He took a deep breath. "First of all, let me thank you for giving me this advice about writing a letter earlier on when were still in 1985. I've remembered it well and now I'm profiting from it, apparently. Secondly, I'm alive, living in the year 1885. The truck apparently had – 1885!"

Marty gawked at the text. Though he had known Emmett had ended up in 1885 all along, he had to admit it hadn't really struck home until now. His eyes flew back to the end of the letter. "September, 1885!"

"Wait a minute, kid," the Western Union man said, trying to hold onto Marty's arm as the teen instinctively began to ran away. "Where's this all about?" As Marty didn't give him an answer, he added: "Do you need any help?"

Marty pondered that for a moment. If Emmett was stuck in the past and had written him a letter so that he could help him get out of there, he'd need to stay here in this time period for a few days to fix the time machine – wherever it was. And in order to do that, he needed a place to stay. And the only place he could possibly think of was…

Determined, he shook his hand free and looked into the Western Union man's eyes. "There's only one man who can help me" he muttered.

And having said that, he ran off towards Courthouse Square.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to BTTF. Anything at all. Why not? Well, just because. This is the last chapter, I can't come up with something sort-of-funny every time! I just don't own BTTF.**

_Author's Note: At last, this story is now fully uploaded. As you might or might not notice, I uploaded this epilogue exactly one year after I uploaded the first chapter, which is kind of funny (to me, perhaps not to others). Anyway, the last chapter is not much news, since it mostly contains stuff from the movie/Marty's Great Experiment. However, it is, at last, the conclusion to this tale. The next story and final part of the SmartMarty Trilogy, Temporal Destiny In The West, is already written, __so you can expect that to appear... one day._**  
**

**15: Epilogue**

Emmett looked at his watch as he tightened the rope around him. There was not much time anymore. Already, he could see Marty and the time truck approaching in the distance.

Mentally hoping for the best, he jumped off the ledge. The abrupt strange sensation of nothing being under his feet didn't last long as he fell downwards, narrowly hit the ground with his foot, was moved up and down for a few moments, and finally came to a rest a few feet from the ground. Relieved, he untied the rope from his body and let himself fall down the remaining feet to the ground.

Luckily, he didn't experience a hard fall. He landed foot-first on the ground, and immediately straightened himself. He ran over to the lamp post, once more checking everything as he arrived. According to the distance between Marty and the lamp post, it was just another five seconds or so before he would arrive, and according to his watch, it was three seconds to go before 10:04 P.M. It was about time.

Three seconds later, the clock tower's clock turned to 10:04 P.M. The next instant, lightning struck it in an epic moment no cinema could have reproduced – well, maybe they could in the future, but not now anyway – and electricity raced down the cables. Emmett managed to connect the two ends just in time but was blown back anyway by the enormous flash of light and sonic boom that resulted as the time truck hit the cables and it and Marty were transported back to the year 1985. The thirty-five-year-old didn't even notice that he had landed in some rather painful bushes near the street. He was too thrilled at the phenomenon he was watching to even feel a slight bit of pain.

As the winds from the temporal displacement cleared up, Emmett stood up and started running through the fire trails. He accelerated as he got further, and eventually, he even made a little dance. He felt a bit embarrassed for doing so – after all, he was a grown up man – but who could blame him for being enthusiastic in such a situation?

After finishing the dance, he began to walk back to the cables, grinning from ear to ear. As he did so, though, another thought popped into his mind. This event did, of course, mean that Marty was gone. There was no Marty around anymore to tell his stories about his horse dealing business anymore. His friend was gone, and he would have to wait thirteen years to catch up with him. And even then, it just wouldn't be the same until 1985.

Emmett shook his head. Well, no use thinking too much about it, he'd just drive himself crazy. And it wasn't like he would be all alone – he would have horses, after all. Sighing, he began to walk over to the cables to remove them.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. Ignoring the sound as somebody running through the street or his ears failing on him – after all, that sonic boom was loud enough to make anybody deaf – he continued his way to the cables. He stopped, however, when the person running up to him took his coat and turned him around.

Any annoyance he might have felt vanished as Emmett looked into the face of the person that had just turned him around. It was Marty – the same Marty who had just left. Emmett's mind locked up. "Argh!" he exclaimed. "A ghost!"

"No, wait, Emmett" Marty insisted. "It's just me, all right?"

"That's impossible!" Emmett exclaimed. "I just saw you go back to the future! It's impossible for you to be here!"

"I know you just saw me leave for the times that have yet to come," Marty said, "but I'm back… I'm back from the future!"

As that information caught up to the older man, Emmett felt seriously unstable on his feet – after all, it had been a long day for him, and this new information was too much to take. He wanted to say something, but before he could bring out the words, he collapsed, losing consciousness.

oooooooo

Marty was horrified as he saw Emmett go down. He figured he shouldn't have run up to his friend like that – he should have known the horse dealer-to-be would be shocked. But then again, that didn't mean that he had to faint like this! Stubborn, the teenager knelt down in front of his friend. "Emmett…" he began. "Come on, Emmett, wake up…"

But even as he did so, Marty began to get the faint but rapidly growing feeling that his friend would not wake up, not tonight. He'd have to wait… wait before the final adventure could begin.

**TO BE CONCLUDED. **


End file.
